Career and employment services system and apparatus

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, distributed networks, and computer-readable media are provided that relate to recruiting and employment services. Background information associated with talent-capability attributes is received from talent. Job description information is received from employers. Prospective matches are identified between employers and talent, and employers and talent are given an opportunity to consent to exchange of talent contact information.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No.12/059,721, filed Mar. 31, 2008, which is a divisional of prior U.S.application Ser. No. 10/101,644, filed Mar. 19, 2002, and is also acontinuation of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 12/846,635, filed Jul.29, 2010, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,374,901, which is a divisional of priorU.S. application Ser. No. 12/059,799, filed Mar. 31, 2008, now U.S. Pat.No. 7,797,181, which is a divisional of prior U.S. application Ser. No.10/101,644, filed Mar. 19, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,424,438, thecontents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to network connected information systems, and,more particularly, to network connected information systems providingdata processing applications in connection with optimizing individuals'employment searches and career opportunities, and optimizing employers'recruiting and hiring processes and decisions.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Finding and hiring highly qualified employees or talent for specificjobs is one of the most important objectives an employer undertakes. Infurthering the employer's objective of hiring the best possibleemployees, an employer would ideally have access to detailed informationregarding as large a pool of talent as possible and the pool of talentwould include prospective employees who are highly qualified for theparticular job that the employer seeks to fill. Without suchinformation, a great deal of time and expense is often expended byemployers in connection with their recruiting and screening functions,while, nevertheless, achieving unacceptable results.

Traditionally, employers have found potential talent among new schoolgraduates through school-related job counseling resources, in responseto classified advertisements for particular jobs, referrals fromexisting employees, and through the use of third-party recruiters(“headhunters”). Each of these alternatives is inefficient, and some arecostly, as well. Furthermore, employers' articulation of the skills theyseek to hire are imprecise. Typically, school-related job counselingresources, classified advertising, and word-of-mouth referrals deal ingeneralities.

When an employer seeks to hire an experienced employee, the pool oftalent, within which a search is conducted, is often limited toindividuals who have already worked in a particular job within aparticular industry. Although it may be meritorious that a prospectiveemployee has current or prior experience in a particular job within aparticular industry, individuals with experience in other jobs withinother industries may possess the particular skills that an employerrequires for a particular job. Yet there exists no efficient means foridentifying such individuals in other fields who may possess the preciseskills sought by the employer. Consequently, an employer's employmentrecruiting and hiring processes and subsequent operations would begreatly enhanced if the employer could efficiently and cost-effectivelyidentify highly qualified talent both within and without the industryand occupational categories of the employer.

Another employment problem faced by employers is that they often do notknow when a particular employment position may become vacant.Specifically, while it is a business courtesy to provide two weeksnotice of termination of at-will employment, employees occasionallyterminate employment with less than two weeks notice. Additionally, itmay occur that an employee may be terminated for a reason necessitatingless than two weeks notice, and injury, illness, or death may cause anemployee to become unavailable to perform his or her job function.Further, even if a full two weeks is available to hire a replacementemployee, frequently two weeks is not enough time to hire a person,particularly for skills that are in high demand.

Another problem faced by employers is that they may stop searching formore highly skilled employee(s) than they have, if an employmentposition is currently filled. Consequently, an employer's recruiting andhiring processes, and subsequent operations, would be greatly enhancedif the employer could efficiently and cost-effectively identify highlyqualified talent on a continuous basis. Accordingly, there is a need inthe art for a practical continuous recruiting system.

Another employment problem faced by employers is that there is nouniformity among employers in how they communicate the requirements,compensation, and benefits of their employment positions to the public.As a result, it is difficult for talent to efficiently andcost-effectively identify the universe of employment positions for whichtheir skills may be suited. Consequently, an employer's recruiting andhiring processes, and subsequent operations, would be greatly enhancedif the employer could efficiently and cost-effectively communicatedetailed information about the skills and experience they require, andthe compensation and benefits they offer, in a structured manner thatfacilitates the search by talent for optimal employment opportunities.

At the same time that employers are encountering difficulty inidentifying highly qualified employees (“talent”) to fill specificemployment positions, talent is struggling to find the employers andemployment opportunities that best match the talent's skills andobjectives.

For talent, establishing and developing a career involves finding,researching, and targeting employers. Traditionally, talent has used thesame sort of inefficient means to find employment opportunities asemployers have used to find talent. Talent has generally relied onschool placement resources, replying to classified advertisements, andword-of-mouth referrals from persons who may already be employed by aparticular employer, a process that is as inefficient for talent as itis for employers. And traditionally, talent has relied on resumes topresent their qualifications, yet there is no uniformity of resumesamong talent. Talent generally must “tailor” their resumes to respond toparticular employment opportunities, and talent may have only a limitedunderstanding of the skills being sought by a particular employer. As aresult, resumes are often unwieldy devices for employers to consider.

Also, it may be difficult for talent to determine which employers totarget for potential employment, and which potential opportunityrepresents the optimal use of their skills. Accordingly, talent canwaste much time and energy trying to find the right position and may,nevertheless, fail to find an optimal position.

Furthermore, it is difficult for talent to identify an appropriateformat for expressing his or her skills to an employer. It is alsodifficult for talent to know what types of information to share with aprospective employer. Consequently, it is advantageous for talent tohave the ability to maintain his or her resume, including a detaileddescription of training, skills, and experience in a uniformlystructured manner on both a current and cumulative basis (a “talentprofile”).

Even when a person is employed in a desirable position, economic orother circumstances may cause the unexpected termination of his or heremployment. Specifically, talent may be laid-off or terminated at anunanticipated time. Even if a talent is not terminated, economicconditions may cause his or her employer to go out of business. In somecircumstances, talent will be provided with adequate notice or severancepay to allow for adequate time to seek other employment in the event ofundesired termination. However, in some circumstances, there isinadequate time. Accordingly, there is a need in the job placementindustry for systems that allow talent to be continually in the jobmarket or at least ready to enter the job market on short notice.

Known methods of recruiting include the process by which a manager willprepare a job description, and send the description to a human resources(“HR”) department, which may check its files of resumes to determine ifa qualified applicant has previously contacted the company. The HRdepartment may also consider qualifications of internal candidates, andfinally, the HR department may place a classified ad in a newspaper ortrade publication. The company may also retain the services of aprofessional recruiter, who may have connections with suitable talent.In addition to classified ads in printed publications, other media maybe used to publish advertisements for talent.

As distributed computer networks such as the Internet have become widelyused, it has become possible to provide classified employment ads tomass markets via on-line databases and publications. Most majornewspapers now have on-line editions that may be used to searchclassified ads for job positions. For example, the employmentclassifieds of the Kansas City Star newspaper may be searched on line athttp://www.kansascity.com.

Such on-line databases provide convenient access by employers to anaudience that is potentially beyond the scope of coverage of subscribersto the printed newspaper. The on-line databases also have an advantageto talent in that talent is better able to search for jobs by geographiclocation or keyword. Of course, both of those features are present inregular newspaper classified advertising. Nevertheless, on-linedatabases of classified ads share the same major drawbacks as printedclassified ads. First, both are highly unstructured and withoutuniformity of job parameters. Second, both solicit highly unstructuredresumes without uniformity from prospective job candidates. Third, bothinvolve the placement of advertising in exchange for an up-front paymentobligation by the employer/advertiser.

Because a cost is associated with posting a classified ad, there is aneconomic disincentive for employers to post jobs other than those forwhich there is a current (or currently expected) vacancy. Furthermore,the classified advertising model employed by newspapers and existingon-line employment sites attracts almost exclusively jobs for whichthere are current (or currently expected) vacancies. Accordingly, manyfewer jobs are advertised than actually exist, and because much of thetalent that is currently employed are not continually looking, the jobsthat are advertised attract a much smaller pool of highly qualifiedtalent than actually exists. This situation is bridged at significantcost to employers by their use of headhunters who recruit currentlyemployed persons who may be willing to change jobs for a betteropportunity, but are unwilling to continuously bear the burden of thesearch effort.

For employers with on-going recruiting and employment problems, theinefficiencies of existing mediums of finding the best, and, in manycases, sufficient talent for a job is a serious problem that contributesto on-going operational inefficiencies. Likewise, for talent who wouldlike to have access to the complete picture of available jobs, theeconomic disincentive placed on employers to provide information aboutall of their jobs is a serious problem that diminishes talent's abilityto optimize his or her career.

For employers, the classified ad system allows a company to develop agroup of resumes of persons who have responded to ads. Employers mayalso consider classified ads placed by talent, indicating that they areavailable for employment. However, there is a similar economicdisincentive for talent to pay for publication of a classified ad.Further, this combined group of talent resumes is small in relation tothe potential universe of talent, and it does not provide an employerwith the detailed and comprehensive information necessary for employersto select an ideal candidate.

Other recruiting systems are basically improvements to thenewspaper-based classified ad system. Several improvements have beenproposed and implemented. Specifically the Monster.com job board, whichmay be found at www.monster.com, collects resumes and allows posting ofclassified employment ads. Systems like Monster.com represent animprovement to the traditional classified ad system, in that these typesof bulletin boards collect resumes for free. Nevertheless, the postedjobs are essentially searchable classified ads, and the resumes postedon Monster.com are not searchable without payment of a significant fee.Again, this places an economic disincentive on employers to search outthe best qualified candidate for a job.

The Monster.com site indicates that it is covered by U.S. Pat. No.5,832,497 to Jeffrey C. Taylor (“the Taylor patent” or “Taylor”). TheTaylor patent describes a system for managing classified employment ads,using of two databases to store information about resumes and aboutjobs.

Taylor discloses providing job industries, company identifiers, jobdisciplines and job titles. Taylor describes using a password system tospecify who has access to the job records for the purposes of adding,changing, and deleting job records. Employer-users are charged forcontact information on applicant users. Fees are structured as a basicsubscription charge allowing a predetermined number of accesses, with apredetermined fee associated with each access above the predeterminednumber of accesses.

Several other on-line job sites collect information about applicants andprovide this information to prospective employers in various ways;however, these systems suffer from drawbacks similar to those of theTaylor patent. Specifically, HotJobs.com, Ltd. (www.hotjobs.com) allowsa user to choose a city and also to specify a corresponding metropolitanarea. Using HotJobs, a user can search for a job in New York, forexample, and find jobs in nearby cities, without knowing the names ofthe other cities.

To use the HotJobs site, a job search user first registers by providinghis or her E-mail address and a password. Next the job search user isprompted to either paste in the text of an existing resume or to answera set of questions that will provide for the automatic generation of aresume. In addition to asking questions pertinent to the resume, theHotJobs system asks job search users about the types of jobs they areseeking, whether they are willing to relocate, and whether they wouldlike their resume to be searchable by employers and/or recruiters. Ifthe job search user elects not to allow his or her resume to besearchable, the resume will only be accessible by those employers thatthe job search user specifies by using a process described below. Anarbitrary job search user of the HotJobs web site may search all of theposted jobs. By registering and creating a resume, the job search usercan apply to any of the posted jobs.

Like Monster.com, HotJobs.com charges for posting jobs. Therefore, thesame economic disincentives are placed on employers that would use theHotJobs system as is placed on employers that would the Monster system.

Accordingly, known on-line job advertising systems represent only minorimprovements over the traditional newspaper-based employment classifiedadvertising system. And the known on-line job advertising systems retainthe significant economic limitation of being based on the newspaperemployment classifieds paradigm. The services charge employers forposting their jobs, just as in the newspaper model, and then they chargefees for merely having the ability to search through the database oftalent resumes.

Because the pay-to-post and subscribe-to-search systems impose upfronteconomic barriers on employers, the systems have the disadvantage ofproviding a disincentive for all employers to post all of their jobs.Further, when talent knows that only a subset of available jobs areposted and that employers are charged to search resumes, talent will notbe optimally motivated to use the career site.

In order to avoid the economic barriers presented by traditional printand on-line media to the comprehensive posting of employmentopportunities, some employers have established employer-owned Internetsites wherein they list some or all of their employment positions. Suchsites, to the extent that the employer has listed all of its employmentpositions, can provide a prospective employee with a comprehensive viewof opportunities with that employer, but not with any other employer.Therefore, while employer-owned sites avoid the economic barriers ofclassified advertising, they do so at another cost—the loss of broadexposure to the available pool of prospective employees, most of whomare unaware of the employer-owned sites.

While the Internet theoretically allows an unlimited number ofprospective employees to visit an employer's web site to viewpotentially all of such employer's positions at little or no cost to theemployer, that benefit is accomplished via the transfer of economicburden to the prospective employee who must search countless employersites hoping for a comprehensive view of employment opportunities. Somepeople have attempted to reduce the cost-transfer defect ofemployer-owned sites by creating “collector” sites that electronicallylink to various employers' separate sites. Such collector sites are mereconduits that may attract incremental attention from prospectiveemployees, but do little, if anything, to ultimately eliminate theeconomic burden that is shifted to prospective employees. This isbecause the employers continue to post their employment positions totheir separate sites. Under such collector systems, the prospectiveemployee must still periodically visit each site in order to acquire acomprehensive up-to-date view of the market place of employmentopportunities. That burden imposes substantial economic costs on theprospective employee due to the significant time inefficienciesentailed.

Accordingly, a system is needed that does not have the limitations ofexisting systems, and that encourages the participation of all employersand all talent in an economically efficient, on-going process ofoptimizing the use of available skills.

SUMMARY

Systems, methods, distributed networks, and computer-readable media areprovided that relate to employment services. Background informationassociated with talent-capability attributes is received from talent ina structured format. Job description information is received fromemployers in a structured format. Prospective matches are identifiedbetween employers and talent, and employers and talent are given anopportunity to mutually consent to the exchange of talent contactinformation. In one embodiment, after such mutual consent has beengranted, a financial transaction is consummated wherein the employerpays a fee to the career site operator.

In one embodiment, skills descriptions are received from talent. In oneembodiment, mutual consent is indicated by a request for an interviewand an acceptance of a request for an interview. In one embodiment,follow up surveys to employers and talent are used to provide feedbackto career site participants.

In one embodiment, employers provide information regarding multipledivisions, including geographical and access scope information.

In one embodiment affiliate marketing arrangements are utilized topromote use of the career site. In another embodiment, wholesalemarketing techniques are employed. In yet another embodiment, amulti-level retail marketing system is applied to develop employerparticipation in the career site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings constitute a part of this specification and includeexemplary embodiments of the disclosed subject matter and illustratevarious objects and features thereof.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of a network in which informationsystems consistent with the present invention may be practiced;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram representing interrelationshipsbetween databases consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram representing an unauthenticated user orinteracting with a career site consistent with the present invention,and a talent interacting with a career site consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram representing a process whereby talent searchesfor and selects jobs and whereby it is determined if talent has theminimum qualifications established and required by the employers for thejob(s) that talent has selected, the processes being performed inconnection with talent interacting with a career site in operating in amanner consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a flow diagram representing a series of talent-initiatedprocesses for gathering governmentally regulated information about atalent in a manner consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a flow diagram representing a series of employer-initiatedprocesses for gathering governmentally regulated information about atalent in a manner consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram representing a talent-initiated process forcollecting information pertaining to protected classes of employees, theprocess being performed in connection with talent interacting with acareer site consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a flow diagram representing an employer-initiated process forcollecting information pertaining to protected classes of employees, theprocess being performed in connection with talent interacting with acareer site consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram representing a talent-initiated process fordetermining the eligibility of talent to be employed in certain jobsrequiring U.S. citizenship, the process being performed in connectionwith talent interacting with a career site consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 7B is a flow diagram representing an employer-initiated process fordetermining the eligibility of talent to be employed in certain jobsrequiring U.S. citizenship, the process being performed in connectionwith talent interacting with a career site consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram representing a process performed in connectionwith an unauthenticated user interacting with a career site consistentwith the present invention, and an employer interacting with a careersite consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a flow diagram representing a series of processes performed inconnection with an employer interacting with a career site consistentwith the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram representing an employer-initiated processwhereby an employer searches for and selects talent profiles for thepurpose of establishing talent interest in the employer's employmentopportunity using a career site in operated in a manner consistent withthe present invention;

FIG. 11 is a flow diagram representing an employer-initiated process fordetermining whether talent is interested in the employer's employmentopportunity in a manner consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a flow diagram representing the purchase of talent contactinformation by an employer in a manner consistent with the presentinvention;

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram representing the payment of referral fees andcommissions for a career site operated in a manner consistent with thepresent invention;

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram representing a procedure whereby additionalinformation about talents' and employers' employment decisions isgathered subsequent to the release of talent contact information to aprospective employer in a manner consistent with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram representing the relationship oftrade associations to talent, employers and a career site in a systemconsistent with one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 16 is schematic a block diagram representing the relationship ofeducational institutions, professional associations, and labor unions totalent, employers and a career site in a system consistent with anotherembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 17 is a schematic block diagram representing the relationship ofwholesalers to trade associations, professional associations,educational institutions, labor unions, employers, talent, and a careersite in a system consistent with yet another embodiment of the presentinvention; and

FIG. 18 is a flow diagram representing the relationship of multiplelevels of retailers with a career site in a system consistent with afurther embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the drawings in greater detail, FIG. 1 shows a blockdiagram of an embodiment of a network in which information systemsconsistent with the present invention are practiced. Computers 110represent client computers that are used by talent, employer-users, andother users and administrators of career systems consistent with thepresent invention. Client computers 110 are of any type of dataprocessing system capable of interacting with a network basedapplication, including conventional personal computer (“PC”) typecomputer systems that are available from companies such asHewlett-Packard Company and Dell Computer Corporation, employing anoperating system such as, for example, the Linux operating system (whichis available from companies such as Red Hat, Inc.) or the Windowsoperating system (which is available from the Microsoft Corporation).Alternatively, computers 110 utilize a UNIX platform such as thoseavailable from Sun Microsystems and Silicon Graphics Inc. or the type ofcomputer sold under the trademark Macintosh™ by Apple ComputerCorporation.

In alternative embodiments client computers 110 may also be implementedusing other types of computing platforms including thin clients, suchas, for example, network computers or using personal digital assistants(“PDA”), such as, for example, the iPAQ™ from Compaq ComputerCorporation, or the Palm Pilot™ from Palm, Inc.

Network 120 represents a network, such as, for example, the Internet,which is an interconnected network of other networks, including localarea networks (“LANs”), wide area networks, (“WANs”), wireless networks,the public services telephone network (“PSTN”) or any other networkcapable of transmitting and receiving digital information.

Through the network 120, client computers 110 may interact with networkapplications such as career site application 140. In one embodiment, thecareer site application 140 comprises a web server 150 such as, theApache web server available from the Apache Software Foundation, or theInternet Information Server (“IIS”) available from the MicrosoftCorporation. In one embodiment, web server 150 provides applicationspecific information to client computers 110 based on informationassociated with a database server 170. Application information isstructured based on business logic contained in an application server160. E-mail server 142 operates in connection with the web server 150 tofacilitate sending and receiving of E-mail messages. Alternatively, eachof the E-mail server 142, the web server 150, the application server160, and the database server 170 may be implemented in various ways,including as three separate processes running on three separate servercomputer systems, as processes or threads running on a single computersystem, as processes running in virtual machines, and as multipledistributed processes running on multiple computer systems distributedthroughout a network. In one embodiment, multiple servers correspondingto the E-mail server 142, the web server 150, the application server160, and the database server 170 are used. In this embodiment,conventional load balancing techniques are employed to balance networkload between the multiple servers.

In one embodiment, application server 160 is a ColdFusion™ applicationserver available from Macromedia, Inc. In this embodiment, when one ofclient computers 110 requests a web page from web server 150, a requestis transmitted through web server 150 to application server 160, wherethe request is processed and data requested from database server 170 asnecessary. Upon processing of the request a response is prepared andreturned to one of client computers 110 via web server 150.

Computer systems such as web server 150 and application server 160include memories in which information resides. These memories may beeither non-volatile, as in the case of flash electrically erasableprogrammable read only memory, or volatile as in the case of randomaccess memory.

I. Career Site Overview

In one embodiment a career site is provided in connection with a website running on a web server such as web server 150 of FIG. 1. Userswishing to search jobs or talent profiles on the career site do not haveto register to gain access to a subset of features on the career site.In one embodiment, when a career site is operated as a business, a feeis generated when an employer elects to purchase contact informationcorresponding to a talent profile. Consistent with the invention, thereis no risk to an employer by listing its jobs on the site because,unlike a typical classified ad, there is no fee associated with listingjobs on the career site. Further, a participating employer pays nothinguntil it identifies talent having an appropriate set of skills andexperience, and the talent has expressed interest in the employer.

In one embodiment, the amount of the fee paid by an employer to thecareer site before obtaining contact information is related to theeducational level of a particular talent. In this embodiment, thestructured system of recording educational levels in the talent profileis used in connection with accounting aspects of the career site. Forexample, in one embodiment, the charge for talent contact info is mappedto the highest education level as follows: (i) GED costs $30; (ii) highschool costs $40; (iii) vocational educational training costs $50; (iv)associate's degree costs $50; (v) bachelor's degree costs $65; (vi)master's degree costs $80; and (vii) doctorate costs $100. In anotherembodiment, a flat fee, such as, for example $50 is charged for alltalent contact information regardless of education level or requiredcompensation. In another embodiment, the price of contact information isrelated to the maximum offered compensation of the employer and isindependent of educational level. In yet another embodiment acombination of factors is used in determining the cost of contactinformation, including for example, education level and the intersectionof required and offered compensation.

Any employer that wishes to add job descriptions to the job database maydo so without incurring any costs payable to the career site operatorfor such additions to the job database. In one embodiment, an employerthat requires the assistance of the career site operator in entering itsjobs in the career site databases may be required to pay fees for suchassistance, but an employer's use of such assistance is at theemployer's discretion. Consequently, the ability to avoid the economicbarriers represented by the existing models of searching for prospectiveemployees removes the disincentive to posting all of an employer's jobsthat is found in classified advertising based systems.

Since employers may comprehensively post any number of jobs for free,the career site may be considered a continuous recruiting system. As aresult, employers may efficiently, effectively, and at low cost optimizethe pool of skills represented by their personnel. And the resultingcomprehensive listing of jobs, encourages talent to post and maintain,throughout their career life, a talent profile that enumerates anddescribes talent's specific skills and qualifications in order to matchas often as possible the skills defined by employers in any number ofjob listings. Because talent profiles are exposed on a continuous basisto comprehensive listings of jobs by a potentially comprehensive pool ofemployers, the career site may be considered a continuous employmentsearch and continuous career enhancing system.

The arbitrary user of the invention may search job listings and talentprofiles for free. While it is common for job seekers to be able tosearch advertised jobs of multiple employers for free on variouscommercial media, and to be able to search jobs of individual employersfor free on separate employer-owned on-line sites, nowhere may jobseekers search a comprehensive database of freely-listed employmentopportunities that is unimpeded by the transaction cost of advertising.And employers that want to search resumes face even more hurdles. In thecase of print media, resumes cannot be searched; in the case of currenton-line systems, resume searches are typically subject to subscriptionand other fees. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for practicaland inexpensive ways for employers to search for resumes.

Consistent with the present invention, talent profile searches yieldresults that do not include either the talent's contact information orthe name of talent's current employer. Therefore, applicants need not beconcerned that their information is available to be searched.Additionally, since one of the fields in a talent profile allows anapplicant-user to specify that he or she is currently content with hisor her position, talent need not be concerned that posting a talentprofile may place talent's current employment at risk in the unlikelyevent that the talent's current employer may happen upon talent'sprofile and recognize it. In one embodiment, talent profiles are alwaysactive. In another embodiment, talent profiles are always active unlessrendered inactive for failure to respond to requests for interviews.

In an alternative embodiment, a talent is provided an opportunity todisable his or her talent profile. In this embodiment, if a particulartalent profile is disabled the talent resume will not be provided toemployers, and the talent will not receive messages regarding requestsfor interviews.

When an employer is seeking talent and searches the talent database fora person with a predetermined level of training, skills, and experience,and finds one or more suitable talent profiles, the employer becomes theinitiating party to the ensuing transactions. When a talent is seekingemployment and searches the database for a desirable employmentposition, the talent becomes the initiating party to the ensuingtransactions.

Next the system compares the parameters of the talent profile and thejob listing involved in the initiating party's inquiry, includingcomparing the minimum required compensation of the talent with themaximum provided compensation of the job position. If the parameters donot match or overlap, the initiating party is told that the parameters(for example compensation requirements) do not match. The initiatingparty may then be offered an opportunity to change parameters and to trythe comparison again.

In one embodiment, if talent-initiator attempts to apply for a joblisting having a minimum compensation expectation that exceeds theemployers maximum, a message is sent to the applicant stating that “Yourminimum compensation expectation exceeds the employer's maximum, and,therefore, we have not forwarded your profile to the employer. Would youlike to change your compensation expectation?” In this way, for example,if talent discovers that his or her expectations are not matched withthe current set of posted jobs the talent has an opportunity to adjustcompensation requirements. Similarly, an employer-initiator may becomeinterested in a talent profile exhibiting a particular set of training,experience, and skills, but the minimum compensation expected by thetalent may exceed the maximum compensation that the employer has definedfor the job it seeks to fill. In such a circumstance a message is sentto the employer informing it of that fact, whereupon the employer maydecide to increase the maximum salary range or to make a new inquirypertaining to a different talent.

In one embodiment, if a talent is notified that his or her minimumrequired compensation is too high and declines to lower his or herminimum, the corresponding employer is notified that talent areconsidering the employer's job descriptions and electing not to lowertheir minimum requirements. In this way, employers are provided anopportunity to raise the maximum compensation, even in situations inwhich a talent is the initiating party.

In an employer initiated process, when an employer declines to increaseits maximum compensation in response to a message that it is too low fortalents' minimum requirements, the employer-identified talent arenotified of the failed match and that an anonymous employer has declinedto increase maximum compensation. Then, talent is provided anopportunity to lower their minimum requirements. In this way, aninitial, anonymous salary negotiation can take place to facilitateemployer and talent matching.

Mutual interest is the basis for facilitating the exchange of contactinformation between talent and an employer. Once an internal matchinghas occurred in response to an action by an initiating party, thenon-initiating party must consent before the release of talent's contactinformation.

When a talent is the initiating party, the talent, by initiating theprocess, grants his or her consent to provide contact information in theevent that the employer wishes to purchase the talent's complete talentprofile. If the employer expresses interest in pursuing the recruitingopportunity, the transaction is completed, each party is notified, thetalent's contact information is transmitted to the employer, and theemployer contacts the talent. In one embodiment, an employer thatdeclines a talent-initiated employment inquiry is presented with asurvey requesting reasons why the employer declined. Reasons mayinclude, for example, talent's lack of experience. Responsive e-mails orother communications are then presented to the talent about why theemployer declined the talent's inquiry. In one embodiment, if theemployer does not respond to the initial inquiry or to the subsequentsurvey, the talent is informed, “The employer corresponding to the jobthat you selected declined to pursue your inquiry. No reason wasstated.”

When an employer is the initiating party, the employer indicates itsconsent to purchasing the complete talent profile in the event that thetalent is interested in the employer's employment opportunity. If thetalent is interested in pursuing the employment opportunity, thetransaction is completed, each party is notified, the talent's contactinformation is transmitted to the employer, and the employer contactsthe talent. In one embodiment, a talent that declines interest in anemployer-initiated employment opportunity is presented with a surveyrequesting reasons why the talent declined the employment opportunity.Reasons may include, for example, geographic location. Responsivee-mails or other communications are then presented to the employer aboutwhy the talent was not interested in the employer's employmentopportunity. In one embodiment, if the talent does not respond to theinitial inquiry or to the subsequent survey, the employer is informed,“The talent that you selected declined your employment opportunity. Noreason was stated.”

Feedback is useful for several reasons. For example, it allows talent todevelop a realistic understanding of the types of skills andqualifications for which employers are looking and the compensation andbenefits that employers are willing to provide; allows employers toassess the adequacy of their compensation packages and other aspects oftheir employment of their employment environment; and removes or reducesthe uncertainty associated with rejection by the non-initiating party,or that may accompany waiting for a response from the non-initiatingparty when it is unclear whether the lack of a response indicates adelay in processing or a rejection.

Transmission of contact information may be carried out in various ways,including presenting the information via an authenticated web page,electronic mail, facsimile, or any other convenient medium forcommunicating contact information.

Job listings that are presented by employers are different fromclassified ads. In one embodiment, job listings are similar to theemployers' internal human resources job descriptions.

Although job information may be entered manually, one embodimentconsistent with the present invention allows electronic exchange of suchinformation from separately maintained human resource databases directlyinto career site databases. This process is facilitated and optimized bythe structured nature of the career site databases.

In one embodiment, the career site receives precise talent profileinformation including a uniformly described college degree, with majorand minor degree programs. In one embodiment, employer job listings areassociated with a database of more than 31,000 occupations. In oneembodiment, the occupations database includes information that can beobtained from the U.S. Department of Labor athttp://www.oalj.dol.gov/libdot.htm.

In one embodiment, some of the talent profile information, for example,talent's current employer or current compensation is not disclosed toemployers unless they purchase a complete talent profile. In oneembodiment, talent profile information may include information that maybe disclosed to employers only under special circumstances. For example,citizenship information may be optionally collected from a talent, sothat if the talent wishes to apply for a position requiring a particularcitizenship status, he or she will be able to automatically provide thatinformation. In many cases, however, it is inappropriate for an employerto consider citizenship in its hiring decisions, because suchconsideration may lead to discrimination on the basis of nationalorigin. Accordingly, a career site, consistent with the presentinvention will provide citizenship information only in circumstances inwhich it would be appropriate for an employer to consider theinformation.

Similarly, Federal Law and Executive Order require certain employers tocollect and analyze race and gender information of all applicants toensure that impermissible discrimination is not taking place.Accordingly, career sites consistent with the present invention have theability to optionally collect information from talent regarding race andgender information. In one embodiment, race and gender information isprovided to the employer at the time the employer makes the hiringdecision, but the employer agrees not to use the information tounlawfully discriminate in any way. Furthermore, after hiring decisionsare made, and on a predetermined interval, such as, quarterly, race andgender information on an individual basis is provided to the employerfor a fee. In this way, employers may inexpensively comply with legalrequirements, have adequate information to prevent discrimination, anddocument that non-discriminatory practices are in fact compliant.

In one embodiment, the career site inquires about a talent's licensesand certificates, such as for example, Licensed Practical Nurse, orCertified Public Accountant. In another embodiment, the career site asksabout professional accomplishments. In a further embodiment, the careersite asks about a talent's English and foreign language skills. In anadditional embodiment, the career site asks about a talent'sprofessional associations. In another embodiment, the career site asksabout the educational institution(s) attended by the talent, and thetalent's field(s) of study, including specialties such as medicalspecialties. In a further embodiment, a talent is asked to classify hisor her current and past employment history according to the NorthAmerican Industry Classification System (“NAICS”) and the Dictionary ofOccupational Titles (“DOT”). These detailed questions provide a betterunderstanding of a talent's experience than merely asking about what anapplicant did in his or her prior positions. Further, the system allowsinput of educational and professional awards, professional recognitions,and honors that talent has received.

Additionally, in yet another embodiment, the career site is designed toreceive skills information from a talent. By allowing a talent todescribe skills organized in a structured manner, a talent has theability to manage and to achieve optimal future employment bycomprehensively collecting data on his or her marketable attributes.Further, the skills information provided by a talent is in a format thatdistinguishes itself from mere conclusory statements of skill, such as,for example, “highly skilled in Russian language.” Instead, the talentis asked to (i) identify a skill among various skills set forth by theDOT that constitute analytical, communications, and mechanical skills;(ii) explain how the skill was acquired; and (iii) explain how the skillhelped the talent perform his or her employment duties in a betterfashion. By describing skills as identified above, it is clear how theperson has acquired and utilized the particular skill, which allows anoptimal evaluation of talent.

Methods, systems, and distributed networks consistent with the presentinvention provide a powerful cumulative database management system fortalent and employers alike. For talent it is a cumulative skillsmanagement system that a talent can maintain over the talent's lifetimeand that can be used to cumulatively describe: (i) educational programs,including educational institutions, levels of education, fields ofstudy, and specialty fields of study; (ii) employment positions,including employer names and prior job descriptions that arecross-indexed to the NAICS, and the DOT; (iii) licenses andcertifications; (iv) languages; (v) analytical skills that arecross-indexed to the DOT; (vi) communications skills that arecross-indexed to the DOT; (vii) mechanical skills that are cross-indexedto the DOT; (vii) professional affiliations; (ix) professionalreferences by employment position; (x) professional accomplishments;(xi) personal references; (xii) personal accomplishments; and (xiii)other relevant cumulative items associated with the constantly evolvingattributes associated with a person's actual experiences.

For employers, the management system is a cumulative human resourcesrecruiting and management system that enables management of: (i)employer-account users corresponding to various employer human resourcesrecruiting and management functions; (ii) the recruiting needs ofdivisions or business units within the enterprise; (iii) the recruitingneeds of employment positions, cross-indexed to the DOT, includingcurrent open positions, and if desired all employment positions withinthe company; (vi) recruiting pay scales; (vii) benefits programs; (viii)self-identification and reporting requirements of race and gender ofapplicants to document effective non-discrimination policies of theemployer; (ix) reporting of the self-identification data if required byregulators; (x) jobs requiring U.S. citizenship; (xi) the number offilled and unfilled employment positions; (xii) the skills required foreach employment position; and (xiii) other human resources recruitingand management functions.

Because a talent classifies each of his or her employers by industry anddates of employment, methods, systems, and distributed networks can beconfigured to aggregate relevant portions of the talent's workexperience in any tier of an industry using NAICS codes that are a partof the industries database consistent with the present invention.Further, because a talent classifies each of his or her employmentpositions by occupation and dates of employment, the talent's workexperience in any tier of occupations can be aggregated using the DOTcodes that are a part of occupations databases consistent with thepresent invention.

Additionally, by using structured data corresponding to analytical,communications, and mechanical skills that are a component part of theDOT classification system, employers have the ability to searchoccupational titles other than the particular occupational titleassociated with a particular employment position for skills similar tothose required for the particular employment position. Identifyingtarget skills found in other occupational titles may, optionally, bebased on the primary analytical, communication, and mechanical skillrequired for each occupational title, but may include skills other thanthe primary skills, and in any combination.

Because the analytical, communications, and mechanical skills that thecareer site requests talent to describe correspond to the DOT codes,employers have the ability to search for relevant skills that a talentdescribed in his or her talent profile.

In one embodiment, employers may search based on a closest metropolitanarea. According to this embodiment, a search will match talent residingoutside of a particular metropolitan area if the talent's location isnevertheless closer, in terms of cost, distance, or time, to theselected metropolitan area that to any other metropolitan area. In oneembodiment, talent may search for employers based on a closestmetropolitan area. In an alternative embodiment, the closestmetropolitan area feature is not used in connection with U.S.metropolitan areas but is used in connection with metropolitan areasoutside of the U.S.A.

A. Talent

Users may search job listings at no cost without registering with thecareer site. However, in order to apply for an employment position, auser must have registered as a “talent” and must have posted a talentprofile to the career site's talent profile database. In order to posthis or her profile to the talent profile database, a talent must (i)select a username and password to prevent unauthorized access to thetalent's profile; (ii) provide all required personal information, suchas, for example, name, address, phone number, and e-mail address; (iii)provide all required information with respect to at least one schoolthat the talent has attended, such information to include, for example,the name of the school, the talent's graduation status, the talent'slevel of education, and the talent's primary field of study; and (iv)provide all required information with respect to at least one employmentposition that the talent has held (or indicate that he or she has neverbeen employed), such information to include, for example, the name ofthe employer, the dates of employment, the title of the job held, theemployer's industry classification according to the NAICS, theoccupational classification of the employment position held according tothe DOT, a description of the employment position held, and otherinformation relevant to the employment position talent has held.Optionally, talent may enter information describing his or her specialskills and abilities such as analytical skills, communications skills,mechanical skills, language skills, licenses and certifications, andprofessional and personal accomplishments.

In one embodiment, the talent's identity is not discernable to thearbitrary user of the career site. In another embodiment, digitalcertificates are employed to prevent unauthorized access to the talent'sprofile. Authentication and authorization may be performed for a useraccount using other methods, including biometrics, smart cards, andtokens.

After having created a talent profile, a talent may conduct more refinedsearches of the career site's jobs database, and may apply for jobs onthe system.

In one embodiment, once a talent profile is established, the talent mayaccess a message repository similar to an electronic mail box. Therepository contains information about jobs sought and the status of theemployers' response to the talent's inquiries. The repository alsocontains information regarding employer inquiries regarding the talent'sprofile. In each case, the information is linked to a specific joblisting, and provides other information such as the current status ofeach inquiry, the dates of inquiry, and the response by either theemployer or the talent depending upon who initiated the inquiry.

In another embodiment, potential matches are automatically suggested totalent based on comparisons with job descriptions seeking talent havingattributes similar to those provided in the talent profile.

B. Employers

Users may search talent profiles without registering with the careersite. However, in one embodiment, in order to obtain any talent contactinformation, a user must establish an account as an “employer,” and mustpost at least one job listing to the career site's jobs database. Toestablish an account, the employer must register with the career site.In one embodiment, the individual establishing the account on behalf ofthe employer is designated as the “account manager.” In one embodiment,the identity of the initial account manager is established when anemployer account is created. In one embodiment, another individual maybe designated as a substitute or replacement account manager. In oneembodiment, the identity of account managers is not discernable to thearbitrary user of the career site.

In one embodiment, a username and password is selected by or provided tothe account manager to prevent unauthorized access to an employer'saccount. In another embodiment, digital certificates are employed.Authentication and authorization may be performed for a user accountusing other methods, including biometrics, smart cards, and tokens.

Some employers, especially large enterprises, may wish to allow multiplepersons to have access to their account (“account users”) to maintainjob listings on the career site. Some employers, especially largeenterprises, may wish to create multiple divisions of their account tocategorize job listings pursuant to the employers' operationaldivisions. Some employers may wish to allow multiple account users forvarious divisions, and/or to assign multiple divisions to one or moreaccount users. Accordingly, in one embodiment, the employer-user isasked whether the employer has multiple divisions. If the answer to themultiple divisions question is “No” then all posted jobs for theemployer go to a single listing for the employer. If the answer is “Yes”then the employer may designate separate divisions, which correspond tothe employer's separate business units, facilities, offices,departments, etc., and which may be separate legal entities such assubsidiaries. In this way an employer more effectively manages its jobsby location, division, or business unit.

In one embodiment, employer division information is structured in ahierarchical manner, beginning with the parent company, which is theemployer in whose name the employer account is established. Eachsubsequent division is categorized, for example, according to Statementsof Financial Accounting Standards No. 141 and 142, as: (i) a subsidiarycompany, which typically corresponds to legal entities at leastpartially owned by the parent company; (ii) an operating division, whichcorresponds to plants, product lines, or other constructs identified byan employer as a “division”; (iii) a reporting unit, which is anemployer identified segment of an operating division; and (iv) adepartment, which is an employer identified, and separately tracked,segment of a reporting unit. Any number of divisions of any category maybe associated with an employer account.

In another embodiment, the employer is asked whether it wants to allowmultiple users to have limited access to the employer's account. If theanswer is “No,” then only the account manager may use the account. Ifthe answer is “Yes,” then the account manager may identify multipleaccount users. In another embodiment, account managers may grant accountusers access to conduct administrative and recruiting functions for somedivisions, and restrict access to other divisions. Further, in oneembodiment, employers may grant account users access to conductadministrative and recruiting functions for some job listings, andrestrict access to other job listings within the same division. In oneembodiment, to accommodate these features, the account managerestablishes a username and password for each account user. Ordinarily anemployer account manager will have the authority to grant and restrictaccess to account users.

Once an employer is authenticated, the employer's account manager mayaccess a message repository similar to an electronic mail box. Accountusers may access message repositories established for them thatcorrespond to the account users' division and job listing assignments.Such repositories contain information about talent sought and the statusof such talents' responses to the employer. The repositories alsocontain information about talent inquiries regarding the employer's joblistings. The talent sought and talent inquiries sections of therepositories contain records having information including: (i) employerdivision(s); (ii) account user(s); (iii) linked job title(s), whichprovide a connection to the posted job(s), (iv) linked talent profileidentifier(s), which provide a connection to blind or complete talentprofile(s); (v) dates of inquiry and response; and (vi) current status.

In one embodiment, when the employer initially creates or later modifiesits employer profile, the system asks the employer to classify itselfusing an industry classification. When an employer indicates that it hasmultiple locations, divisions, or business units above, the employer isprompted for an industry classification for each of its sub-entities.

In one embodiment, the billing contact for the employer defaults to thefirst account manager of the employer account. However, the defaultbilling contact may provide information about a different billingcontact by clicking on a check box. User interfaces other than the checkbox may be used to provide instant access to entering an additionalbilling contact. Billing contacts may be done for the entire enterprise,or assigned on a sub-entity basis.

In another embodiment, when a job listing is created, the employer isasked to (i) classify the job according to the DOT; (ii) describe thevarious skills required for the job such as educational level, field ofstudy, specialty, and language skills, etc. using the career site'sdatabases; (iii) provide a narrative description of the job; and (iv)provide other information pertinent to the career site's functionality,such as the maximum compensation that the employer has assigned for thejob listing, and any regulatory criteria.

C. Data Controls

The career site employs a number of internal controls to insure theintegrity of its data. In one embodiment, when a user of the career siteinputs a city, the city is checked against a database of geographicalinformation, and if the city is not found, the user is provided with anindication that the city was not present in a comprehensive database ofcities. In one embodiment, a city is selected from existing choices byway of a multi-level hierarchical data structure, in which the levelsinclude, for example, country, state or province, county or parish, andcity.

Additionally the data input system is advantageously constructed so thatall input data is checked for upper and lower limits, and that all datais otherwise in conformance with the restrictions of the career site'ssystems. For example, in one embodiment, postal codes preferably includethe appropriate number of digits for the applicable country; geographicareas are cross-checked against the comprehensive database; U.S. phonenumbers must be ten digits; foreign phone numbers preferably include anindication that they are not domestic, e.g. by starting with a “+” signfor example; names (such as, for example, city, employer, school, andother types of names existing in the career site databases) are checkedagainst existing names in the various databases; industryclassifications, occupational classifications, fields of study,languages, and various licenses and certifications learned by the systemare checked against existing data; and information pertaining toanalytical skills, communications skills, mechanical skills, andprofessional and personal accomplishments are collected in acomprehensively structured manner. All of these steps are designed toinsure that talent and employers are guided to provide the fullestextent of relevant information, and to insure the uniformity andintegrity of data to the fullest extent possible.

In one embodiment, telephone numbers are received in an unstructuredmanner, without restriction. In this embodiment, application server 160determines if an international or domestic number has been entered,based on the number of total digits entered. In this embodiment, specialcharacters (i.e. +) are not stored with the phone number field. Specialcharacters may be removed in various places within career siteapplication 140, e.g. in a browser associated with client computer 110or in web server 150 or in application server 160.

II. Databases

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representing interrelationships between datasources consistent with the present invention. In one embodiment, arelational database management system (“RDBMS”) may be employed, suchas, for example, Oracle9i from Oracle Corporation or SQL Server fromMicrosoft Corporation. In one embodiment, in connection with an RDBMS,data structures known as tables are used to represent the databasesdescribed in connection with the present invention. Data structuresother than those used in connection with an RDBMS may be employed. Theterm database is used herein to merely describe a collection ofinformation. In one embodiment, information is intentionally structuredto minimize variation between data entries. When allowing members of thepublic to provide information to a computer system, it is advantageousto maintain data in a consistent format. Accordingly, entriesrepresenting the same thing are written in exactly the same way, i.e.“New York City” is always “New York City” and not occasionally “NYC.”This is because, when categorizing and cross-referencing employers andtalent based on certain parameters, having an inconsistent data formatwill cause the employers and talent to be incorrectly categorized.

Accordingly, it is advantageous to have a comprehensive database ofparameters, such as, for example, “fields of study.” In one embodiment,a comprehensive set of fields of study is obtained in advance ofoperating the career site by examining the degree programs of severalrepresentative universities. In one embodiment, additional fields ofstudy may be learned by providing a user with an opportunity to enter adifferent degree under an “other” category, and then auditing theentered degrees to make sure they are not merely a variation of anexisting degree. If the degree is found to be legitimate, it is added tofields of study database 217 preserving data consistency for the nextperson searching or entering such a field of study. The employers 210,educational institutions 215, geography 216, fields of medicalspecialties 218, languages 219, hospital departments 221, tradeassociations 222, professional associations and labor unions 223, andlicenses and certifications 224 databases are updated in a similarmanner.

In one embodiment, benefits database 220 is fixed, in that it does notlearn new benefits, but may be modified from time-to-time by the careersite operator. However, employers may supplement benefits database 220with special benefits programs they may have devised, which programs maybe designated as applicable to all of the employer's jobs, or limited tospecific employer divisions, or limited to specific jobs within specificdivisions.

In this way, data integrity is ensured and variations in data entrystyle are minimized. Data consistency facilitates matches in searching.In one embodiment, it is not necessary to manually type in a categorywhen searching. If a category is not in a drop down list for searching,the category is not in the database of categories.

In one embodiment, data integrity is imposed on industries database 213by providing a multi-level hierarchical industry tree consistent withthe NAICS, which is maintained by the U.S. Census Bureau. As the NAICSis modified by the Census Bureau, the classifications in industriesdatabase 213 are updated.

In one embodiment data integrity is imposed on job descriptions inoccupations database 214 by providing a multi-level hierarchicaljob-tree consistent with the DOT, which is maintained by the U.S.Department of Labor. Levels may include, for example, industryclassification, occupational category, occupational division,occupational group, and job title. Such a database may be constructedusing a relational database model or other types of database modelsincluding multi-dimensional database models. As the DOT is modified bythe Department of Labor, the classifications in occupations database 214are updated.

In one embodiment, industries database 213 and occupations database 214are associated with each other.

A. Industries Database

NAICS, the North American Industry Classification System, is a systemfor classifying businesses by industry. NAICS is a classification systemthat is constructed based on economic principles. In NAICS, economicunits that use like processes to produce goods or services are groupedtogether. NAICS is a replacement for the Standard IndustrialClassification (“SIC”), which had been used in various versions sincethe 1930s. NAICS is a six-digit system that provides for increasedflexibility over the old SIC codes.

Consistent with the present invention, coded, labeled, and describedindustry and sub-industry entries are structured into five tiers. Forexample, code 488111 is for “Air Traffic Control” and is a 4th subpartof the Transportation and Warehousing industry. For example:

Transportation and Warehousing    Support Activities for Transportation      Support Activities for Air Transportation 20 Airport      Operations          Air Traffic Control

In one embodiment, industries database 213 is searchable by each of 5tiers. In one embodiment, each entry in the coded, labeled, anddescribed industry listings, within industries database 213, isaccompanied by an English language description of the entry that talentand/or employers may access for additional consideration of theclassification choice they make. Talent are asked to classify eachemployment position they have held by the employer's industry. Employersare asked to classify themselves as a whole (for example,“conglomerate”), and to classify each division that they may set up inthe career site system. Divisions may have a different classificationthan the employer as a whole.

In one embodiment, industries database 213 is intended to allow aprecise classification of the industry or industries in which aparticular talent has worked and the industry in which an employer'sparticular job listing participates. The precise classificationsfacilitate highly refined searches by talent for jobs and by employersfor talent, which searches can be done by any industry tier in industrydatabase 213.

In one embodiment, industries database 213 will be updated to correspondwith updates to NAICS. Industries database 213 searches may be carriedout in combination with searches performed on other databases, such as,for example, those represented in FIG. 2.

In one embodiment, the number of years of experience that talent has ina particular industry tier is calculated by the career site operator tofacilitate matching the industry experience offered by the talent to theindustry experience required by employers. In one embodiment, industriesdatabase 213 is updated as the NAICS is updated from time-to-time by theU.S. Census Bureau. Industries database 213 may be searched incombination with any other databases of the career site, such as, forexample those represented in FIG. 2.

B. Occupations Database

In one embodiment, occupation database 214 uses information from theDictionary of Occupational Titles—Fourth Edition, Revised 1991,published by the U.S. Department of Labor. DOT is a system forclassifying jobs and the skills required for each job. Occupationsdatabase 214 includes over 31,000 separately identified occupations or“occupational titles” that are assigned to successively broader groups.In one embodiment, the structure of occupations database 214 consists ofcoded, labeled, and described occupational and sub-occupational entriesconsisting of 4 tiers, including:

Occupational Category    Occupational Division       Occupational Group         Occupational Title

For example, the occupation of Artificial-Breeding Technician is theOccupational Title of the following Category, Division, and Group:

Agricultural, Fishery and Forestry Occupations Animal Farming    AnimalServices       Artificial-Breeding Technician

Each occupational title is matched to a three-part combination of coded,labeled, and described primary job skills associated therewith. Skillcategories include:

1. Data and Analytical Skills

2. Communications and People Skills

3. Mechanical Skills

The three categories of skills are further broken down into subparts forwhich there are corresponding codes. The subparts include:

Data and Analytical Skills

-   -   Synthesizing    -   Coordinating    -   Analyzing    -   Compiling    -   Computing    -   Copying Comparing

Communications and People Skills

-   -   Mentoring Negotiating Instructing Supervising Diverting    -   Persuading    -   Speaking—Signaling    -   Serving    -   Taking Instructions—Helping

Mechanical Skills

-   -   Setting Up    -   Precision Working    -   Operating—Controlling Driving—Operating Manipulating    -   Tending    -   Feeding—Offbearing    -   Handling

In a systematic manner, talent is asked to describe their skills in eachsubcategory of data/analytical, communications/people, and mechanicalskills. In addition, each occupational title is assigned to a particularindustry. For example, the occupational title of Artificial-BreedingTechnician is assigned to the Agriculture industry. In one embodiment,occupations database 214 includes a written description or definition ofoccupational titles that talent and/or employers may access foradditional consideration of the classification choice they make.

A talent is asked to classify each employment position they have held byoccupational title, when the employment position is added to his or hertalent profile. Employers are asked to classify each job listing theypost to the career site by occupational title. Occupations database 214allows precise classification of talent's current or past employmentpositions and a precise classification of each employer's individual joblistings.

Talent may use occupations database 214 to search for jobs in anyoccupational category, division, group, or title. Employers may useoccupations database 214 to search for talent that have worked in anyoccupational category, division, group, or title. Employers may also useoccupation database 214 to search for talent that has described specificdata/analytical, communications/people, and mechanical skills compatiblewith the employer's requirements and expectations for the job.Occupation database 214 may be searched in combination with any otherdatabases of the career site such as, for example, those represented inFIG. 2.

In one embodiment, selections from occupations database 214 arepresented to talent and employers after a keyword search of theoccupational titles. In addition to the occupational titles, thecorresponding occupational group and industry are presented to assisttalent and employers in the selection of a specific occupational title.The results of the keyword search may be sorted alphabetically byoccupational group, title, or industry to assist talent and employers inthe selection of a specific Occupational Title. If additional assistanceis required for classifying an employment position or job listing, anarrative description may be accessed for each occupational title.

In one embodiment, the number of years of experience that talent has inany Occupational Category, Division, Group, or Title is calculated bythe career site operator to facilitate matching the experience offeredby the talent in a particular occupation to the occupational experiencerequired by employers.

C. Hospital Departments Database

Hospital departments database 221 contains information gathered fromhospitals and other sources to prepare a list of functional departmentswithin hospitals. Hospital departments database 221 is used to furtherclassify talent's hospital employment position(s), if any, and anemployer hospital's employment positions. This feature is importantbecause, for example, registered nurses may hold many differentpositions within a hospital. Accordingly, talent and employers mayconduct searches based on designated hospital departments. Hospitaldepartments database 221 may be searched in combination with any otherdatabases of the career site, such as, for example, those represented inFIG. 2.

D. Employers Database

In one embodiment, employers database 210 contains information regardingemployers that have provided employer information, and the names ofemployers provided by talent for whom no employer account has yet beenestablished. Therefore, in one embodiment, talent may add an employername, location, and industry classification to employers database 210 ifsaid database does not already contain such information. If an employeraccount is later established, the information provided directly by theemployer will be used by the career site operator to replace anyinformation that may have been provided by talent.

Employers database 210 includes information comprising an employer's (i)name; (ii) address; (iii) phone number; (iv) NAICS code(s), (v) accountusers and e-mail addresses, and other identifying information,including, for example, a number of divisions or business units of anemployer and associations between an employer's account users,divisions, and job listings. In one embodiment, employers database 210is updated as each employer establishes or registers an employer accountwith a particular career system operator.

In one embodiment, a talent may use the employer name portion of theemployers database 210 to identify the employer precisely. Employers mayconduct searches for talent based on employers' names in order toidentify talent who have worked for a particular employer in the past.This functionality serves as an alternative industry search and mayidentify talent who misclassified the industry and/or occupational titleof their previous employment.

In one embodiment, logic used in connection with employers database 210includes a routine to safeguard against employers establishing duplicateemployer accounts for a single employer. In this embodiment, when a newemployer account is established, it is compared to existing employersusing a soundex name comparison and for example a comparison of addressand industry codes.

In one embodiment, talent and unauthenticated users may use employersdatabase 210 to search for jobs listed by particular employers using asbroad or as refined a set of criteria as the talent chooses to use.Searches of employers database 210 may be made in combination with anyother databases such as, for example, those represented in FIG. 2.Talent may search job listings using any available data field suppliedby employers, or by use of key words, except that talent may not searchemployers database 210 using employers' confidential information,including, for example, the names and addresses of the account manageror account users.

In one embodiment, personally identifying information regarding personsassociated with employers in employers database 210 and maximumcompensation allocation may not be viewed by anyone other than theaccount manager and account users associated with a particular employer,and authorized personnel associated with the career site operator.

E. Talent Profiles

Talent profiles database 205 contains biographical information abouttalent that would be useful for an employer or recruiter to determine ifthe talent has suitable skills, training, and experience to beconsidered for a particular job. Talent profiles database 205 includesinformation received from talent. In one embodiment talent informationis received and stored in a structured format. The talent informationincludes information selected by talent from lists of information suchas, for example, information contained in industries database 213,fields of study database 217, educational institution database 215,occupations database 214, employers database 210, hospital departmentsdatabase 221, medical specialties database 218, geography database 216,languages database 219, professional associations and labor unionsdatabase 223, trade associations database 222, and licenses andcertifications database 224. Talent information may also include otherdata supplied by talent from their own sources. In one embodiment,personally identifiable information is not available for searching orviewing by anyone other than the particular talent and authorizedpersonnel of the career site provider.

Employers may use talent profile database 205 to search for talent usingas broad or as refined a set of criteria as the particular employerchooses to use. Employers may search talent profiles database 205 usingany available data field supplied by talent, or by use of key words,except that employers may not search talent profiles database 205 usingtalent's confidential information. When an employer searches talentprofiles, the employer does not receive certain information designatedas confidential, including, for example the talent's name, home address,telephone number, E-mail address, minimum compensation requirements, andcurrent employer's name. Nevertheless, a match would not have occurredbetween a talent profile and a job listing if there were not overlapbetween the maximum compensation parameter in the job description andthe minimum compensation requirement associated with particular talent.In one embodiment, when an employer purchases talent contactinformation, the employer is provided with the talent's name, homeaddress, telephone number, E-mail address, and current employer's namebut is not provided the talent's minimum compensation requirements.

In one embodiment, a talent creates his or her profile directly asindicated in block 204. Alternatively, talent profile information may beadded to talent profiles database 205 from existing data sources oftalent profile information. In either case educational institutionreferrals 201, professional association referrals 202, and other sourcesof talent profiles 203 may be used to provide talent profileinformation.

F. Jobs Database

Jobs database 211 includes information gathered from employers in astructured format. It includes information provided by employers fromindustries database 213, field of study database 217, educationalinstitution database 215, occupations database 214, employers database210, hospital departments database 221, medical specialties database218, geography database 216, languages database 219, professionalassociations and labor unions database 223, trade associations database222, and licenses and certifications database 224. Jobs database 211 mayalso include other information supplied by employers from independentsources.

Personally identifiable information such as the names and otherinformation of account managers, billing contacts, account users, andother confidential information such as maximum compensation allowed fora job, may be accessed only by an account manager associated with theemployer or by authorized personnel of the career site operator.

Talent uses jobs database 211 to search for jobs on as broad or asrefined a set of criteria as they choose to provide. Talent may searchjob listings using any available data field supplied by employers,except that talent may not search jobs listings using the confidentialand personally identifiable information of employers' account managers,billing contacts, account users, and maximum compensation specified forthe particular job listing. Nevertheless, a match would not haveoccurred between talent and an employer if there were not overlapbetween the maximum compensation parameter in the job description andthe minimum compensation requirement associated with particular talent.

In one embodiment, employers are encouraged to list every job they haveor intend to have. In this embodiment, such listings are maintainedindefinitely by the career site operator, and the listings are expanded,contracted, or edited by each employer, either by individual manualentry, or by automatic electronic exchange with an employer's enterprisedatabase application, as the employer's recruiting and operational needschange.

G. Geography Database

In one embodiment, geography database 216 is used in connection withtalent profile database 205, employers database 210, and jobs database211 to precisely locate talent, employers, and jobs. Geography database216 may be used to measure the proximity of talent to employers or jobs.In one embodiment, a database of postal codes may be acquired bycontinued operation of the career system. As users enter the names oftheir cities, the associated postal codes are stored in a database withan association to a town. If a particular user mistypes or incorrectlyspecifies a town or a postal code, repeated use will provide an abilityto identify the incorrect associations by checking for consistency withother records and other sources, such as databases that are commerciallyavailable. Political sub-entities may include entities such as, forexample, cities, towns, or villages; counties, or parishes; and states,provinces, or regions.

In one embodiment, a commercial database containing associations betweenpolitical sub-entities and postal codes is used directly. In anadditional embodiment of the present invention, the association betweenpolitical sub-entities and postal codes may optionally learn city andpostal code associations by aggregate analysis of data that is enteredinto the system by users.

Other convenient geographical units exist. For example, the U.S. CensusBureau has provided the public with metropolitan area (“MA”) populationestimates. These MA population estimates are associated with county andsub-county population estimates, which are based on censuses conductedby the U.S. Census Bureau. MAs are further designated as MetropolitanStatistical Areas (“MSA”) or Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Areas(“CMSA”). Within an MA, a “central city” is designated based on the citywith the largest population in each MSA or CMSA.

MAs include MSAs, CMSAs, and primary metropolitan statistical areas(“PMSA”). An area that qualifies as an MSA and has a population of onemillion or more may be recognized as a CMSA if separate component areasthat demonstrate strong internal, social, and economic ties, includingavailability of transportation, can be identified within the entire areaand local opinion supports the component areas. Component areas, ifrecognized, are designated PMSAs. If no PMSAs are designated within thearea, then the area remains an MSA.

In one embodiment, a user may conduct a geographical search by county,because some rural counties are not part of an MSA, and accordingly auser, whether applicant or employer will not be excluded from a searchon the basis that a particular location is not part of an MSA.

In this way, methods and systems consistent with the present inventionprovide optimal geographic choice in searching for jobs and candidates.This is particularly useful for employers that would like to considerpersons with close geographical ties to the area in which a particularjob is located.

H. Associations Databases

Trade associations database 222 and professional associations and laborunions database 223 include the vast majority of established trade andprofessional associations in the world. In one embodiment, there areapproximately 7,649 trade and professional associations in tradeassociations database 222 and professional associations and labor unionsdatabase 223. Talent and employers use trade associations database 222and professional associations and labor unions database 223 to make aprecise designation of such organizations with which they associated.Employers use professional associations and labor unions database 223 torefine their searches for certain skills possessed by talent who belongto particular associations.

In one embodiment of the present invention, commissions may be paid toprofessional associations that are affiliated with talent who are usingthe career site, and to trade associations that are affiliated withemployers that are using the career site.

I. Fields of Study and Educational Institutions Databases

When talent provide talent profile information to talent profiledatabase 205, they are asked to provide specific, structured backgroundinformation, including information about training and experience. Tofacilitate collection of structured data, fields of study database 217,medical specialties database 218, and educational institution database215 are provided.

Fields of study database 217 includes information collected from variousrepresentative educational institutions to prepare a list of educationalemphasis that is intended to enumerate the vast majority of possiblefields of study. In one embodiment, fields of study database 217identifies narrower fields of study that exist within broader fields.For example, “Pharmacy” may be broken down into the following subparts:

Clinical Sciences Doctor of Pharmacy General Medicinal ChemistryPharmaceutical Chemistry Pharmaceutics Pharmacy Administrative andSocial Sciences

Talent are asked to designate their field(s) of study by selecting froman enumerated list obtained from a data source, such as, for examplefields of study database 217. If fields of study database 217 does notinclude a talent's particular field of study, then the talent is askedto type in his or her particular degree. The database will be updated aspreviously unlisted degrees are identified and optionally audited forduplication and correctness.

Medical specialties database 218 includes information collected fromvarious educational institutions in order to prepare a list ofspecialties within the various medical fields of study, and is intendedto enumerate the vast majority of possible medical specialties. In oneembodiment, medical specialties database 218 identifies narrower fieldsof study that exist within a broader medical field of study. Forexample, a specialty within the “medical—surgery” field of study mightbe “hand surgery.”

Field of study database 217 is intended to allow a preciseclassification of talent's major and minor areas of educationalemphasis. Medical specialty database 218 is intended to allow a furtherrefinement of classification with respect to the educational andoccupational emphasis of licensed health care providers, such asdoctors, nurses, and therapists. It will be apparent to the casualobserver that other occupations offer specialization, such as, forexample, the legal profession. An embodiment of the present invention isthe expansion of the specialty database concept to occupations otherthan medical occupations.

Precise classifications facilitate highly refined searches by talent forjobs requiring appropriate education and by employers for talent withparticular education.

Educational institutions database 215 contains information abouteducational institutions. Educational institution database 215 isintended to include the vast majority of all colleges, universities, andvocational schools in the world. Based on the enumerated list, talentare asked to precisely designate the schools of higher education theyhave attended. If educational institution database 215 does not includethe school from which a talent graduated or attended, the talent isasked to provide the name of the school.

Employers may use the educational institution database 215 informationto search for talent who graduated or attended specific institutions. Inone embodiment, educational institution database 215 will be updated asnew schools are identified by talent or employers, or as colleges,universities, or vocational schools establish accounts with the careerservices provider consistent with the present invention.

J. Languages Database

When talent provide talent profile information to talent profilesdatabase 205, they are asked to identify their language skills. Tofacilitate collection of this information in a structured manner,languages database 219 is provided. Languages database 219 is intendedto enumerate the vast majority of the world's languages. In oneembodiment, languages database 219 will be updated as additionallanguages are identified by talent, employers, or other sourcesavailable to the career site.

K. Benefits Database

In one embodiment, benefits database 220 is associated with employersand job descriptions. The benefits database includes a standardizedlisting of benefits that may be associated with a particular employer orjob. Some examples of standard benefits include incentive pay, healthinsurance, including an identification of health care providers, 401-K,dental insurance, continuing education, signing bonus, pension, on-sitedaycare, flex-time, free parking, relocation, paid vacation, anddifferential shift pay. Because benefits information is recorded andstored in this way, it becomes searchable by talent. In one embodiment,when talent searches for jobs, icons are displayed that represent theparticular standardized benefits that the employer offers with theparticular job. The benefits database may, at the option of eachemployer, also include benefits that are unique to the employer.

IV. Searches for Talent and Jobs

Searches of an arbitrary career site databases may be conducted inconjunction with any or all of the other career site databases. Thesecriteria may be used in connection with self-searches (whereby the userconducts a search at his or her prompting), and with automatic searches(whereby the user specifies at least one set of search parameters thatare saved by the career site operator in order to conduct periodicsearches) of the career site to facilitate matching talent with the typeof position talent is seeking.

In one embodiment, a talent is asked to identify every country in whichhe or she may lawfully work. Such information facilitates searchesconducted by employers. In one embodiment, employers and talent have theability to conduct either or both of “domestic” and “foreign” searches.For employers, a domestic search identifies the talent profiles oftalent who live in and are lawfully eligible to be employed in adesignated country, which may or may not be specified as the U.S.Employers may also conduct a foreign search to identify the talentprofiles of talent who live outside of a designated country, but who arelawfully eligible to work in the designated country, which again may ormay not be specified as the U.S.

In one embodiment, talent may conduct a domestic search to identify jobslocated within a designated country, which may or may not be specifiedas the U.S. For talent, a foreign search identifies jobs located outsideof a designated country, which again may or may not be specified as theU.S.

Searching may be performed by way of search interfaces 206 and 212.Potential search capabilities include both searching jobs database 211and talent profiles database 205. In one embodiment, the process ofsearching domestic job descriptions includes selecting a geographicalregion. In one embodiment an applicant may search for jobs by anyavailable geographic designation, which includes country; state,province, region or similar designation; county, parish, township orsimilar designation; city, town, village, or similar designation; zip orpostal code.

In one embodiment, a user of the site may search for talent profiles orjobs that are aggregated within a designated geographic area. If some orall of the designated area encompasses an MSA, then two levels ofresults are presented. The first level presents the results that arewithin the designated geographic area; the second level presents theresults that are within the corresponding MSA and, if applicable, CMSA.

In one embodiment, the user of the site may broaden or narrow thesearch. For instance, the user may broaden his or her search from adesignated city or MSA within a state to the entire state. Or the usermay narrow from a CMSA, such as, for example, the Baltimore/WashingtonCMSA, to a PMSA or a component of a PMSA, such as, for example, limitingthe search to the District of Columbia or to a specific zip code. Asearch may be broadened or narrowed to any of the available geographicaldivisions in geography database 216.

In one embodiment, geography database 216 includes searchable listingsof every country in the world, and each country's states, provinces, orother political subdivision, cities, and postal codes gathered as partof the data collection in connection with talent profiles database 205,employers database 210, and jobs database 211. In one embodiment, forcountries other than the U.S., employers and talent are asked to selectfrom a list or directly provide a metropolitan area, or fractionalportion thereof, closest to their place of residence. If a city is notlisted, then it is not in the database, and the closest metropolitanarea should be selected.

In one embodiment, employers directly create accounts as shown inconnection with block 209. Additionally, trade associations 207 andother sources yielding employers 208 may be used to refer employers tothe career site and to provide information to employers database 209.Alternatively, employer data sources may provide employer data directly,such as, for example in the case of a trade association providingemployer information about its employer members.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the results oftalent-initiated searches for jobs are presented to the talent ranked bythe maximum compensation offered by the employer for the particular job;the job offering the highest compensation is listed first and the joboffering the lowest compensation is listed last. Nevertheless, theactual compensation ranges specified by employers are not disclosed toanyone. In one embodiment, the results of employer-initiated searchesfor talent are presented to employers on a scoring system (discussedlater in this patent application) consistent with this invention; thetalent profile evidencing the most favorable score is listed first andthe talent profile with the least favorable score is listed last.Nevertheless, the score calculated by the career site operator is notdisclosed to anyone, and is merely used to determine the order ofpresentation.

At the election of the user, one or more search parameters devised bythe user will be saved by the career site operator for such user'sfuture use within the career site. At the election of the user, theresults of searches conducted by the user will be saved for such user'sfuture use within the career site.

V. Talent-Initiated Processes

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram representing a process performed in connectionwith an unauthenticated user and a talent (i.e. a user that hasregistered as a talent) interacting with a career site consistent withthe present invention. First, an unauthenticated user visits the careersite (stage 301). In one embodiment, the career site provides users withaccess to a web page. A user could alternatively access an applicationin forms other than a web page, such as, for example, by way of a speechrecognition interface. Next, the unauthenticated user visits pages ofinterest in the application (stage 302). The pages or content ofinterest may include (a) searching (i) talent profiles, (ii) joblistings, (iii) articles; and (b) viewing advertisements, or othercontent in the career site. The unauthenticated user may search jobs andtalent profiles, but may not apply for jobs or purchase talent contactinformation (stage 303).

While accessing the site, a first-time user has an ongoing opportunityto register with the site (stage 304). Users must register as either“talent” or “employers.” If a user decides not to register and has nomore pages or content of interest to him or her, then the session ends(stage 328). If an authenticated user intends to register as a talent,then he or she continues with the process described in FIG. 3 (stage304, et seq.). If an authenticated user intends to register as anemployer, then he or she continues with the process described at FIG. 8(stage 804).

Authentication is the process of identifying an individual, usuallybased on a username and password or credentials. Other methods ofauthentication may be employed without departing from the scope of thepresent invention, including digital certificates, token cards, andbiometrics. An authenticated user is a user that has provided adequatecredentials to an authentication system, based on a predeterminedstandard for adequacy of credentials. In connection with the presentinvention, “predetermined” means to be determined prior to any attemptedaccess.

In one embodiment, an unauthenticated user of a career site applicationmay access only a subset of the available features of the career siteapplication. Areas to which access is allowed to unauthenticated usersin this embodiment include: (i) a home page associated with the careersite; (ii) a talent section that provides information to talent aboutregistering with the system and about how to use the system; (iii) anemployer section that provides information to employers aboutregistering with the system and how to use the system; (iv) “quicksearch” of the job description, talent profile, and employer databases;(v) a “storefront” section where the user may learn more about specificemployers that are using the career site for recruiting purposes; (vi)an industry news section where users may access news articles pertainingto one or more industries or employers that the talent has identified,and/or in which talent has expressed interest as evidenced by talent'smost recent job search and/or employment application; (vii) a sectionthat describes commercially available reports prepared by the careersite operator; (viii) an “affiliate” section that describes the careersite's affiliate marketing programs; (ix) an “about us” section thatprovides information about the career site operator, includinginformation such as, for example, contact information for the siteoperator; (x) a privacy statement regarding information that iscollected; and (xi) terms of use of the career site.

In one embodiment, “quick search” is a function designed to search thecareer site's databases in a manner that is less specific than the “fullsearch” function, which is capable of searching all data fields in thecareer site's databases.

In one embodiment, an unauthenticated user is not allowed to perform thefunctions of (i) “full search” function; (ii) create or modify a talentprofile; (iii) create or modify an employer account; (iv) create ormodify a job listing; (v) apply for a job; (vi) convey an employmentopportunity to talent; or (vii) create or modify storefronts.

In one embodiment, registering with the career site involves choosing toregister as either “talent” or as “employer.” The remainder of thissection generally pertains only to users who have registered as“talent.”

Registering as talent involves providing several discrete pieces ofinformation. In this embodiment, required information includes, forexample, first name, last name, residence address, e-mail address,telephone number, a unique user-ID and password, birth date, and theanswer to one question chosen by the talent from among several questionspresented that is used for identification purposes if the talent everforgets the user-ID or password. The discrete pieces of informationrequired for registration may be expanded or contracted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

If the user elects to register with the site as talent, the talent willreceive a welcome message via e-mail (stage 305). The talent then alsohas full site access (stage 306, et seq.). Next the talent has anopportunity to complete a talent profile (stage 307). In one embodiment,talent is encouraged to complete a talent profile, because it willincrease the likelihood that an employer will be motivated to contactthe talent with an employment opportunity. In one embodiment, a talentis encouraged to complete the talent profile, because the talent may notapply for a job listed in the jobs database unless talent's profileincludes the minimum required information.

In one embodiment, once a talent registers and authenticates with thesite, the talent may access a career site message repository thatresembles an electronic mail box. The message repository containsinformation about the positions or job listings for which talent hasapplied and the status of each such application, including employername, linked job title, dates of inquiry and response, whether theemployer has accepted or declined to proceed, and the reason employerdeclined. The message repository also contains information aboutemployers' inquiries submitted to the talent, including employer name,linked job title, dates of inquiry and response, and whether the talenthas accepted or declined to proceed, and the reason that the talentdeclined, if applicable.

Consistent with the present invention, talent profiles are received andstored in the talent profiles database 205 for any talent that wishes tostore a talent profile in the system. Even talent who are not currentlyseeking employment may develop and maintain their talent profilesincluding an extensive set of skill descriptions. Consequently, talentprofiles are continuously available for consideration for new employmentopportunities, thus enhancing the talent's ability to optimize his orher career opportunities.

Talent profiles are made available to the public for searching andbrowsing without any contact information, and without the talent'scurrent employer's name. Accordingly, a talent's current employmentposition is not jeopardized. In any event, since the present inventioncontemplates continuous job search by all talent and continuousrecruiting by all employers, it is anticipated that the arbitrary talentwill elect to display his or her talent profile continuously. In theevent that a talent does not want to continuously display his or hertalent profile, then the talent may elect to make his or her entiretalent profile “invisible” to others until the talent reverses thatelection.

In completing an employment profile, a talent is guided through adetailed, multi-step process during which talent provides information,such as, for example: (i) personal contact information; (ii) educationalhistory; (iii) employment history; (iv) special skills andqualifications; (v) professional affiliations; (vi) optionally, race andgender information for use in programs, such as, for example,affirmative action programs and (vii) optionally, citizenshipinformation for use in programs, such as, for example, governmentcontracting programs. If a talent chooses not to complete an employmentprofile, he or she will not have full access to the site and will not beable to apply for jobs until the minimum requirements for a talentprofile are satisfied. If the talent elects to complete a talentprofile, the results are saved for searching, analytical, and reportingpurposes (stage 321). Based on the saved information, a fully disclosedtalent profile 322 is available for inspection by the talent, and alimited disclosure talent profile (i.e., one lacking contactinformation) is available for public inspection (stage 323).

FIG. 3 also includes a process for already registered talent to “signin.”First, if the talent is not already signed-in, then he or she must“sign in” using his or her previously selected user-ID and password(stage 324). Next, the talent is presented with all employer-initiatedand certain talent-initiated inquiries (e.g., for example, the resultsof automatic searches) that have occurred since talent's last visit tothe site or another time period determined by the career site operator(stage 325). If any of the listed inquiries require a response from thetalent, then he or she must respond to each such inquiry beforeconducting additional searches or applying for additional employmentpositions (stage 326), or the session ends (stage 327). After respondingto the necessary messages, the talent may access the career site and itsdatabases (stage 308).

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram representing a process for conducting searchesof job listings consistent with the present invention. As indicated inblock 400 this process is performed in connection with a process such asthe one described in connection with FIG. 3. To search a jobs databaseas indicated in block 401, a talent may identify a job listing by way ofself-search (stage 402) or may specify an automatic search (stage 403).In performing a self-search, talent uses a search form to performindividual, custom searches of the employers database. Automaticsearches are conducted on a recurring basis, such as daily, by thecareer site operator based on the search parameters that the employedhas specified for each of its job listings. To conduct a search, whetherself-search or automatic search, employers must specify a geographicpoint of reference and at least one of several non-geographic searchparameters, such as industry, occupation, license, or language.

In one embodiment, a talent may initiate a search by specifying thesearch either as a domestic search or as a foreign search as describedearlier in this patent application, and by selecting a geographic pointof reference such as a country, state, county, city, or zip code. Inthis embodiment, a talent may indicate his or her selection from adrop-down list of choices corresponding to the level of geographic areaof interest to talent. For example, if a talent is interested insearching for any job of a certain type within a country, then thetalent will select a country from a predetermined list of countries. Inthis embodiment, if a talent specifies only a country, e.g. “UnitedStates of America” then all jobs in the U.S. that match the talent'sother search parameters will be reported in order of highest to lowestmaximum compensation specified by each employer. Other methods may beemployed to order the presentation of jobs. In one embodiment, thecareer site operator may limit the number of jobs reported to a maximumnumber, for example, 25. The number jobs reported to talent by thecareer site operator may vary from all jobs or a predetermined number.In this embodiment, employers' maximum compensation figures are notdisclosed in the ranking, and job descriptions having the same maximumcompensation figure are ordered alphabetically by employer name.

A talent may optionally provide cumulatively more restrictive searchparameters by choosing from progressively smaller geographicsubdivisions, such as: (i) state, province, or region within aparticular country; (ii) county or parish within a particular state,province or region; and (iii) city, town, or village within a particularcounty or parish. In one embodiment, a preexisting geographical databasefacilitates collection of structured data by providing the talent withan enumerated list of possible selections for each step. That is to saythat if a talent wishes to specify a city, he or she selects a countryfrom the list of possible countries, then selects a state, province, orregion from a list of the same from within the selected country, and,finally, selects a city from a list of cities and towns within theselected state, province, or region. Some countries may not have state,provinces, regions, counties, or parishes, or the same may be unknown tothe career site operator, in which event, the talent may select directlyfrom the available list of cities, towns, or villages within theparticular country. In one embodiment, a talent may by-pass certaingeographical subdivisions such as counties or parishes within U.S.states or within the states, provinces, or regions of other countries,and directly select a city, town, or village within a particular state,province, or region.

In one embodiment, if a talent elected to search for jobs by postalcode, the talent selects a country from a list of countries. Next, thetalent provides a postal code corresponding to the selected country, andthe talent need identify no other geographic subdivision of the selectedcountry.

In one embodiment, a predetermined number of jobs will be reported to atalent who selects only search by city or search by zip code. However,in one embodiment, additional search parameters may be provided. In oneembodiment, if a talent specifies a geographic subdivision of a country,e.g. the State of Missouri, then all jobs in the specified subdivisionthat match the talent's other search parameters will be reported. In oneembodiment, if a talent specifies a postal code of a country, e.g.,66202 in the U.S., then all jobs in the specified postal code that matchthe talent's other search parameters will be reported. In eitherembodiment, the reported jobs may be ranked in order of highest tolowest maximum compensation specified by each employer. However, in oneembodiment, the career site operator may limit the number of jobsreported to a maximum number, for example, 25. In this embodiment,employers' maximum compensation figures are not disclosed in theranking, and job descriptions having the same maximum compensationfigure are ordered alphabetically by employer name.

In one embodiment, at least one of a group of additional optional searchsteps must be specified. In one embodiment, the group of search stepsincludes, accessing the career site databases (stage 404), for example:(i) industry search; (ii) occupation search; (iii) education search,including any combination of (a) level of education, (b) field of study,(c) specialty, and (d) educational institution; (iv) employer namesearch; (v) licenses and certifications keyword search; and (vi)languages search; (vii) analytical skills search; (viii) communicationsskills search; (ix) mechanical skills search; (x) hospital department;and (xi) other keyword search. In this embodiment, each additionalsearch step may be specified as cumulative (i.e., A and B) oralternative (i.e., A or B). For example, a talent may formulate a searchas follows: all jobs in a particular city requiring a predeterminedlevel of education and a predetermined license. A talent may alsoformulate a search in the alternative: i.e. all jobs in a particularpostal code requiring either a predetermined level of education or apredetermined certification.

In this embodiment, an optional industry search makes use of anunderlying industry database to facilitate collection of structureddata. In one embodiment, the industry database contains five tiers ofindustry specificity. A talent specifies only the first tier of industryspecificity, resulting in a broad search. Alternatively, a talentspecifies an industry at a more detailed level, resulting in a morefocused search. In this embodiment, a talent can also specify a numberof years of experience in the specified industry. By providing a numberof years of experience, a talent has the ability to filter out those joblistings that require more industry experience than the talentspecified.

If a talent elects to provide occupation search parameters, the talentis requested to provide an occupational division. To facilitate a moredetailed search, the talent may optionally provide occupational group,or occupational title. In one embodiment, a talent may additionallyprovide a department, for example, in the case of searching hospital jobdescriptions. A talent may also search by specialty, for example, in thecase of licensed health care professionals. In connection withoccupation search parameters, a talent may also specify a number ofyears of experience in the specified occupational division, group, ortitle. The number of years of experience may be used to filter out thosejob listings that require more occupational experience than the talentspecified.

If a talent elects to provide education search parameters, he or sheprovides an educational level, i.e. general equivalency diploma (“GED”),high school, vocational school, college—associate, college—bachelor,college—master, or college—doctorate. A talent may further specify afield of study, i.e. “mathematics.” A talent may also further specify aspecialty, e.g. a medical specialty of “Plastic Surgery.”

A talent may also elect to provide a search step that searches joblistings by at least one employer name. Additional keyword search stepsinclude searching by at least one license or certification keyword, i.e.“professional engineer” or “certified nurse anesthetist.” Other keywordsearch steps may be provided, corresponding to which the text of anysearchable parameter of a job description will be matched for thepurpose of the search.

In one embodiment, search results are provided in a structured format,in which job descriptions are provided only if they satisfy all of thecriteria as set forth in connection with talent-provided job searchparameters.

In one embodiment, for search reporting purposes, job descriptions areseparated into two groups: (i) the matching jobs that are located withinthe specified point of geographic reference, such as a city or postalcode; and (ii) the matching jobs that are located within the MSA/PMSAand CMSA that encompasses the selected point of geographic reference. Inconnection with group (ii), a distance is optionally provided betweenthe location of each job and the talent-specified location in thesearch.

In one embodiment, the jobs presented to the talent are ordered indescending order based on the maximum compensation that the employer hasdefined for the particular job listing. In this embodiment, theemployers' maximum compensation figures are not disclosed in theranking, and job descriptions having the same maximum compensationfigure are ordered alphabetically by employer name.

In one embodiment, an automatic search is performed based on talentspecifications similar to that provided in connection with aself-search. In an automatic search, the career site performs anautomatically recurring periodic search against all job listings. In oneembodiment, if a talent specifies an automatic search, the system storesa predetermined number of unique automatic searches, such as, forexample, 10 (stages 407 and 408), which are used to automatically searchjob listings using different parameters. In this embodiment, searchresults are presented pursuant to each talent-specified search routinein the fashion previously described for self-searches. If,alternatively, a talent identified an employer via a self-search, in oneembodiment the system may save only the most recent search (stages 405and 406). In alternative embodiments, an arbitrary number ofself-searches may be stored to facilitate repeating self-searches atlater times.

A talent-initiated match is a match that occurs because of an initialaction taken by a talent. When a talent-initiated match occurs, it isbecause of one of several reasons including: (i) the talent has locateda job description through self-search; and/or (ii) the talent hasreceived notice of a match from the career application by way of anautomatic search. The talent may save the search results (stages 411 and412), discard the results (stage 413), process the results as employmentinquiries (stage 414), or conduct another search (stage 410). Bysubmitting an employment inquiry, the talent granted permission to thecareer site to provide his or her contact information to that employer,if the employer is interested in the talent. Employment inquiries aresaved and made available in various reports (stages 415 and 416).

If the talent elects to process the search results as employmentinquiries, the next step is to determine whether talent's qualificationsand compensation requirements meet the minimum requirements specified bythe employer (stage 417). At this stage, the talent's qualifications arecompared to the job listing, including non-public aspects of the jobdescription such as for example, maximum compensation value, or thelawful ability to work in a particular country. If the listing employerhas identified any qualifications as mandatory, the talent must possessthe minimum amount of the corresponding skill in order to be consideredfor the position. If the talent does not have appropriate experience,education, or other minimum qualification, talent is contemporaneouslysent a “not qualified” message, indicating an incompatibility betweenthe job listing and the talent's profile (stage 418). Next, the messageis saved and made available in connection with various reports (stages419 and 420).

If minimum requirements are not met, the talent decides whether toprocess an employment inquiry for another job listing (stage 409), or toconduct another search (stage 410). If the talent decides not to conductanother search, the session ends (stage 421). Alternatively, if thetalent wishes to conduct another search, the process proceeds back tothe search stage (stage 401).

If the minimum requirements for the selected job listing are met, thenprocessing advances to FIG. 5A, which is a flow diagram representing aseries of talent-initiated process for gathering governmentallyregulated information about a talent. First, the career site determineswhether the employer has requested that talent applying for theparticular job provide information pertaining to their race and gender(i.e., Federal Employment Records Information, “FERI”) (stage 501). Ifthe employer requested FERI (stage 501), then processing moves to FIG.6A.

FIG. 6A is a flow diagram for obtaining FERI from talent on a voluntarybasis. If the talent profile does not already include FERI (stage 601),then the talent is requested to voluntarily supply such information(stage 602). If the talent supplies FERI (stage 603), the employer maynot use the information to discriminate in the employment process in anyway, and the information is stored for the later use of the employer(stages 609, 610, 611, and 612).

In order to avoid FERI routine in processing future employmentinquiries, the talent may elect to save his or her FERI in his or hertalent profile (stages 606 and 607), in which case the FERI generallywill not be visible to anyone except the particular talent (stage 608).If the talent elects not to save FERI data it will be discarded (stage605). However, employers may use FERI in order to favor certainprotected classes of talent. Regardless of whether the talent hassupplied his or her FERI, the employment inquiry is processed to thenext stage (stage 604, returning to stage 502).

Returning now, to FIG. 5A, if the employer has not requested that talentprovide FERI, the employment inquiry is processed to the next stage(stage 503). Here, the career site determines whether the employer hasindicated that the job listing selected by the talent is requires workauthorization (stage 503), such as for certain positions and contractswith the U.S. government and its political subdivisions. If the jobselected by the talent requires work authorization, then processingmoves to FIG. 7A.

FIG. 7A is a flow diagram illustrating exemplary procedures forobtaining work authorization representations. If the talent profileincludes the required work authorization information (stage 701), and ifthe talent is qualified (stage 702), then the employment inquiry isprocessed to the next stage (returning to 504 of FIG. 5A). If the talentprofile includes the required work authorization information (stage701), and if the talent is not qualified (stage 702), then theemployment inquiry is not processed any further, the talent receives amessage that he or she is “not qualified” for the selected job listing(stage 703) and the processing of the employment inquiry ends (stages713 and 714).

If the talent profile does not include the required work authorizationinformation (stage 701), then the talent is asked to supply thatinformation (stage 704). If the talent does not supply the requiredinformation (stage 705), then processing of the employment inquiry ends(stages 715 and 716). If the talent supplies the required information(stage 705), and if the talent is qualified (stage 706), then theemployment inquiry is processed to the next stage (returning to stage504 of FIG. 5A). If the talent supplies the required information (stage705), and if the talent is not qualified (stage 706), then the talentreceives a “not qualified” message (stage 707), and processing of theemployment inquiry ends (stages 715 and 716).

Regardless of whether the talent is qualified or not qualified, thetalent may save his or her work authorization information in his or hertalent profile in order to avoid this routine in processing futureemployment inquiries for job listings that require work authorizationinformation (stage 708), in which case the information becomes a part ofthe talent profile, but is not visible to anyone other than theparticular talent (stages 710 and 711). Next processing ends (stage717). If the talent does not elect to save his or her work authorizationinformation, then any completed work authorization information isdiscarded and processing ends (stage 709).

Because it may reasonably be anticipated that job listings may besubject to other governmentally imposed restrictions or record keeping,FIG. 5A contemplates other routines for processing such requirements(stages 505 and 506).

The next stage (stage 507) is to check the employer's account todetermine if its billing information is current. If the employer'sbilling information is not operative, then the employer receives amessage to that effect (stage 512), and the employer's account becomes“inactive” (stage 513) because it no longer meets the minimum standardsfor an employer account.

In one embodiment, the employer is contacted by email on the occurrenceof inactivation of its account. In another embodiment, the employer isnotified of the inactivation when it logs in to the career site. If theemployer updates its billing information (stage 514), then processingmay resume (return to stage 507). If, after a predetermined period oftime, the employer has not updated its billing information, it isassumed that the employer has declined the talent's inquiry. Whereupon,the talent receives a message stating that the employer declined butgave no reason for its decline (stage 515), and the session ends (stage516).

Returning to stage 507, if the employer's billing information iscurrent, then the talent's employment inquiry is submitted to theemployer (stage 508). By submitting an employment inquiry, the talentgranted permission to the career site to provide his or her contactinformation to an interested employer. The talent's employment inquiryconsists of talent's “blind” talent profile (stage 509) and a briefsurvey (510) for use in the event that the employer declines thetalent's employment inquiry. At this stage, the talent profile omits thetalent's personally identifying information and the name and location ofthe talent's current employer (collectively, “contact information”), andis referred to as a “blind talent profile.” Processing continues at FIG.12 (stage 511).

In one embodiment, an employer may determine approximate currentgeographical information about a talent, based on the metro areaidentified in connection with talent's current residence. Further, anemployer may obtain information about a talent based on the industryclassification of the talent's current or most recent position. It ispossible that some persons, including employers, may attempt tocircumvent the career site's procedures. However, several reasons existto dissuade employers and unauthenticated users from attempting tocircumvent the procedures:

1. It is difficult to obtain contact information for a talent withoutusing the career site's procedures to obtain the talent's consent torelease contact information. The difficulty arises from the fact thatthe talent's (a) name; (b) street address; (c) phone number; (d) e-mailaddress; and (f) current employer's name and address are not publiclydisplayed when talent profiles are searched. Therefore, an employer'sability to contact a talent based on information in the talent profileis no better than if one were to surmise the existence of a talentemployed by any identifiable employer.

2. With respect to searches conducted by unauthenticated users, neithertalent's current or past employer's names are publicly displayed whentalent profiles are searched.

3. The career site procedures are more efficient and cost effectivecompared to all other forms of recruiting. Only the isolatedword-of-mouth referral of a qualified candidate could be considered tobe more efficient. Therefore, there are economic reasons for employersto adhere to the career site's procedures.

4. By virtue of the fact that talent have posted their talent profileswith the career site, they are stating a preferred means of contact thatemployers with legitimate recruiting interest can be expected to honor.

5. Before conducting any searches, unauthenticated users must agree tothe career site's terms and conditions of use.

6. Upon registering, employers agree not to circumvent or attempt tocircumvent the career site's procedures when they establish theiremployer account with the career site.

7. Employers obtain important information in support of their recruitingand hiring practices by using the career site. The opportunity tocollect such information could be irrevocably lost if an employer wereto circumvent the career site's procedures.

FIG. 12 is described in connection with the above description of FIG. 5Aas indicated in stage 1200. If a talent's employment inquiry issuccessfully processed by the career site, and a blind talent profileand survey are forwarded to an employer by the career site, the employermust respond to the inquiry (stage 1201) the next time that the employersigns-in to the site. In one embodiment, if the employer does notrespond to all messages from the career site that require response, thenthe employer's account is made “inactive” (stage 1202), meaning that theemployer may not conduct transactions (such as submitting employmentinquiries to talent, conducting full searches, editing accountinformation and job listings, or purchasing talent contact information)on the site. In one embodiment, the employer is notified, for example,by E-mail upon the inactivation of the employer's account. In anotherembodiment, the employer discovers inactivation at the time it next logsin to the career site.

In one embodiment, after all messages have been answered, the employer'saccount is returned to “active” status. If the employer has notresponded within a predetermined number of days, then the talent is senta message to the effect that the employer is not interested in thetalent, but gave no reason (stage 1203). This information is saved forthe talent and the employer (stage 1204), and processing ends (stage1205).

In one embodiment, if an employer repeatedly fails to respond torequests for interviews, then the employer's account is suspended orinactivated. In one embodiment, the account suspension or inactivationwill expire after a predetermined period of time. In another embodiment,the account suspension or inactivation will not be removed until theemployer takes some action, such as, for example contacting the careersite operator.

If the employer responds (stage 1201), the employer indicates if itwants to contact the talent and answers the survey (stage 1206). If theanswer is “no,” the talent receives a message that the employer was notinterested in talent, and the talent is provided with the reason givenby the employer for employer's decision (stage 1207). This informationis saved for the talent and the employer (stage 1204), and theprocessing ends (stage 1205).

If the employer is interested in interviewing the talent, then theprocessing enters the next phase, which commences at stage 1208. Thisnext phase is discussed in the section entitled “Completing theTransaction.”

VI. Employer-Initiated Processes

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram representing a process performed in connectionwith an unauthenticated user and an employer (i.e., a user that hasregistered as an employer) interacting with a career site consistentwith the present invention. First, an unauthenticated user visits thecareer site (stage 801). In one embodiment, the career site providesunauthenticated users with access to a web page. A user or employercould alternatively access an application in forms other than a webpage, such as, for example by voice recognition. Next, theunauthenticated user visits pages of interest in the application (stage802). The pages or content of interest may include searching talentprofiles (stage 803), searching job listings, articles, advertisements,or other content in the career site. While accessing the site, afirst-time user has an ongoing opportunity to register with the site asan employer (stage 804). Users must register as either “employer” or“talent.” Refer to FIG. 3 at stage 304 for registration as talent. If auser decides not to register and has no more pages or content ofinterest, then the session ends.

Authentication is the process of identifying an individual, usuallybased on a username and password or credentials, however, in analternative embodiment, other methods of authentication are employedwithout departing from the scope of the present invention, includingdigital certificates, token cards, and biometrics. An authenticated useris a user that has provided adequate credentials to an authenticationsystem, based on a predetermined standard for adequacy of credentials.

In one embodiment, an unauthenticated user of a career site applicationmay access only a subset of the available features of the career siteapplication. Areas to which access is allowed to unauthenticated usersin this embodiment include: (i) a home page associated with the careersite; (ii) a talent section that provides information to talent aboutregistering with the system and about how to use the system; (iii) anemployer section that provides information to employers aboutregistering with the system and how to use the system; (iv) “quicksearch” of the job description, talent profile, and employer databases;(v) a “storefront” section where the user may learn more about specificemployers that are using the career site for recruiting purposes; (vi)an industry news section where users may access news articles pertainingto one or more industries or employers that the talent has identified,and/or in which talent has expressed interest as evidenced by talent'smost recent job search and/or employment application; (vii) a sectionthat describes commercially available reports prepared by the careersite operator; (viii) an “affiliate” section that describes the careersite's affiliate marketing programs; (ix) an “about us” section thatprovides information about the career site operator, includinginformation such as, for example, contact information for the siteoperator; (x) a privacy statement regarding information that iscollected; and (xi) terms of use of the career site.

In one embodiment, “quick search” is a function designed to search thecareer site's databases in a manner that is less specific than the “fullsearch” function, which is capable of searching all data fields in thecareer site's databases, and which is restricted to authenticated usersof the career site.

An unauthenticated user may not perform the functions of (i) “fullsearch” function; (ii) create or modify an employer account; (iii)create or modify a talent profile; (iv) create or modify a job listing;(v) apply for a job; (vi) convey an employment inquiry to an employer;or (vii) create or modify storefronts.

In one embodiment, registering with the career site involves choosing toregister as either “employer” or as “talent.” This section of the patentapplication generally pertains only to users who have registered as“employer.”

Registering as an employer involves providing several discrete pieces ofinformation. In this embodiment, required information includes, forexample, first name, last name, business address, e-mail address,telephone number, a unique user-ID and password, birth date to be usedfor identification purposes if the employer ever forgets the user-ID orpassword, and the answer to one question chosen by the employer fromamong several questions presented that is used for identificationpurposes if the employer ever forgets the user-ID or password. Thediscrete pieces of information required for registration may be expandedor contracted without departing from the scope of the present invention.

If the user elects to register with the site as an employer, theemployer will receive a welcome message via e-mail (stage 806). Theemployer then also has full site access (stage 807, et seq.). Next theemployer has an opportunity to complete an employer profile (stage 807,808, and FIG. 9).

In one embodiment, an employer is encouraged to complete the employerprofile, because it will increase the likelihood that talent will bemotivated to contact the employer with an employment inquiry. In oneembodiment, an employer is encouraged to complete the employer profile,because the employer may not submit requests for contact information totalent in the talent database unless the employer's profile includes theminimum required information.

In one embodiment, the minimum requirements for establishing an employerprofile include (a) providing all required employer account information,such as, for example, the employer's account manager contactinformation, (b) billing information, and at least one job listing. FIG.9, which is a flow diagram of the employer account set up process,illustrates how an employer may customize its employer profile byestablishing, within the profile, (a) separate divisions (stages 901 to903), (b) separate account users (stages 904 to 906), (c) jobs thatrequire the collection of federal employment records information(“FERI”) pertaining to race and gender (stages 907 to 909), (d) jobsthat require the collection of work authorization information pertainingto certain government jobs and government contract jobs in the U.S.(stages 910 to 912), and (d) jobs that are subject to other forms ofregulation (stages 913 to 915).

Returning to FIG. 8, in one embodiment, an employer interacting with thepresent invention may elect either to manually enter job information(stage 823), or to electronically download job data using an electronicinterface (stage 825). In each case, an employer will access some or allof the career site's databases 809 (stage 822), and the employer'sseparate database(s) (stage 824). The employer's profile and joblistings are stored in the career site's databases of employers and joblistings (stage 826). The public portion of an employer's job listingsis available for searches conducted by talent, employers, andunauthorized users. Confidential information is not available to anyoneother than the particular employer. An employer may then generate avariety of reports (stage 827).

In one embodiment, an employer may list as many or all of its employmentpositions at no cost, because, unlike newspaper classified employmentads and existing on-line systems, there are no up-front fees forcreating an employer account or listing a job. Fees are only charged andcollected if the talent and the employer mutually agree to the releaseof the talent's contact information, or if the employer purchases otheroptional services or products from the career site.

Consistent with the present invention, employer profiles are receivedand stored in the employers database for any employer that wishes tostore an employer profile in the system. Employer profiles are madeavailable to the public for searching and browsing without any contactinformation, except that employer names may or may not be displayed tothe public at the option of the career site operator.

Even employers that are not currently seeking talent may develop andmaintain employer profiles including an extensive list of jobs. Unlessan employer elects otherwise, all of the employer's jobs arecontinuously available for consideration by prospective employees,thereby enhancing the employer's ability to optimize the skillsrepresented by his or her personnel. Thus, the present inventioncontemplates continuous recruiting by an employer for all of its jobs.It is anticipated that the typical employer will elect to display all ofits jobs continuously. In the event that an employer does not want tocontinuously display one or more of its jobs, the employer may elect tomake one or more jobs “invisible” to others until employer reverses thatelection.

In completing an employment profile, an employer is guided through adetailed, multi-step process during which the employer providesinformation, such as: (i) personal contact information; (ii) billinginformation; (iii) divisions; (iv) account users; (v) industryclassification(s); (vi) job listings; (vii) qualifications and skillsrequired for each job; (viii) occupational classifications; (ix) tradeaffiliations; (x) whether FERI is requested, such as, for example, foraffirmative action programs; (xi) whether citizenship information isrequired for use in programs, such as government contracting programs;(xii) the location of jobs; and other relevant information. If anemployer chooses not to complete an employer profile, he or she will nothave full access to the site until the minimum requirements for anemployer profile are satisfied. The minimum requirements for an employerprofile include (i) the primary account information providing detailedinformation about the employer, including contact information for theaccount manager, (ii) the billing information, and (iii) at least onejob listing.

If the employer elects to complete an employer profile, the results arestored for searching, analytical, and reporting purposes (stage 826).Based on the stored information, a fully disclosed employer profileincluding all job listings is available for inspection by the employerand its authorized users, and job listings without contact informationare available for public inspection (stage 828).

After an employer has completed the minimum requirements for an employerprofile, an employer may access any authenticated user area of thecareer site via direct sign-in (stage 830), including maintainingaspects of the employer profile pursuant to FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, andconducting full searches of the talent and employers databases. In oneembodiment, employers may be restricted from searching the employersdatabase. At stage 831 it is determined whether an employer response isrequired. If not the process continues to stage 808. If a response isrequired (stage 832), the session ends (stage 805) if no response isprovided and continues at stage 808 if an appropriate response ispresented at stage 832.

In one embodiment, once an employer registers and authenticates with thesite, the employer may access a career site message repository thatresembles an electronic mailbox. The message repository containsinformation about the talent profiles for which employer has submittedrequests for the release of contact information, including linked talentprofile, the dates of employer inquiry and talent response, whether thetalent has accepted or declined to release contact information, and thereason talent declined, if applicable and available. The messagerepository also contains information about talents' employment inquirysubmissions to the employer, including linked talent profile, dates oftalent inquiry and employer response, whether the employer has acceptedor declined the inquiry, and the reason that the employer declined thetalent's inquiry, if applicable.

Employers that are already registered may enter the career site bydirect sign-in using the employer's previously selected user-ID andpassword. Next, employer is presented with all talent-initiated andcertain employer-initiated inquiries (e.g., for example, the results ofautomatic searches) that have occurred since employer's last visit tothe site or another time period determined by the career site operator.In one embodiment, before conducting any transactions on the career site(stage 1001), such as, for example, maintaining employer account,billing, division, user, FERI, work authorization information, otherregulated job information, job listings, or searches, an employer ispresented with a display of messages from the career site (stage 1022),some of which may require a response from the employer, such as, forexample, if talent have made inquiries regarding the employer's joblisting(s) and the employer must accept or decline the inquiry, or ifthe employer has not responded to the follow-up survey that is describedin connection with FIG. 14. After responding, an employer may proceed tomaintain its account and conduct searches as it wishes (stages 808 and822).

FIG. 10 is a flow diagram representing a process for conducting searchesof talent profiles consistent with the present invention. To conduct asearch, an employer identifies a talent profile by way of self-search(stage 1003) or may specify an automatic search (stage 1004). Inperforming a self-search, an employer uses a search form to performindividual, custom searches of the talent database. Automatic searchesare conducted on a recurring basis, such as daily, by the career siteoperator based on the search parameters that the employer has specifiedfor each of its job listings. To conduct a search, whether self-searchor automatic search, employers must specify a geographic point ofreference and at least one of several non-geographic search parameters,such as industry, occupation, license, language, etc.

In one embodiment, an employer may initiate a search by specifying thesearch either as (a) a domestic search as described earlier in thispatent application, and by selecting a geographic point of referencesuch as a country, state, county, city, or zip code and at least onenon-geographic search parameter; or (b) as a foreign search as describedearlier in this patent application, and by selecting a country and atleast one non-geographic search parameter. With respect to thegeographic selection, an employer may indicate its selection from adrop-down list of choices corresponding to the level of geographic areaof interest to employer. For example, if an employer is interested insearching for talent of a certain type within a country, then theemployer will select a country from a predetermined list of countriesand all talent profiles in that country that match the employer's othersearch parameters will be reported in order of a score (discussed below)calculated by the career site operator.

For domestic searches, an employer may optionally provide cumulativelymore restrictive geographic search parameters by choosing fromprogressively smaller geographic subdivisions, such as: (i) state,province, or region within a particular country; (ii) county or parishwithin a particular state, province or region; and (iii) city, town, orvillage within a particular county or parish. In one embodiment, apre-existing geographical database facilitates the collection ofstructured data by providing employers with an enumerated list ofpossible selections for each step. Specifically, if an employer wishesto specify a city, it selects a country from the list of possiblecountries, then selects a state, province, or region from a list of thesame from within the selected country, and, finally, selects a city froma list of cities and towns within the selected state, province, orregion. Some countries may not have state, provinces, regions, counties,or parishes, or the same may be unknown to the career site operator, inwhich event, the employer may select directly from the available list ofcities, towns, or villages within the particular country. In oneembodiment, employers may by-pass certain geographical subdivisions,such as counties or parishes within the states of the U.S. or within thestates, provinces, or regions of other countries, and directly select acity, town, or village within a particular state, province, or region.

In one embodiment of domestic searches, if an employer elects to searchfor talent profiles by postal code, the employer selects a country froma list of countries. Next, the employer provides a postal codecorresponding to the selected country, and the employer need identify noother geographic subdivision of the selected country, but must identifyat least one non-geographic search parameter.

In one embodiment, a predetermined number of talent profiles will bereported to an employer based on the geographic area the employerselected, and the employer's other search parameter(s). At least onenon-geographic search parameter is required.

In one embodiment, multiple non-geographic search parameters may bespecified. In one embodiment, the group of search steps includes,accessing the career site databases (stage 1005), via different types ofsearches for example: (i) industry search; (ii) occupation search,including hospital department, if applicable; (iii) education search,including educational institution and multiple levels of educationconsisting of (a) the specific level of education, such as, for example,bachelor, master, or doctorate, (b) field of study, and (c) specialty,such as, for example, in the case of licensed health care professionalsand others; (iv) licenses and certifications keyword search; (v)languages search, including searches of talents' level of fluency inreading, writing, and conversing; (vi) analytical skills search; (vii)communications skills search; (viii) mechanical skills search; (ix)prior employer search; and (x) other keyword search. In this embodiment,each additional search step may be specified as cumulative (i.e., A andB) or alternative (i.e., A or B). For example, an employer may formulatea search as follows: all talent profiles in a particular city displayinga predetermined level of education and a predetermined license. Anemployer may also formulate a search in the alternative: i.e. all talentprofiles in a particular postal code requiring either a predeterminedlevel of education or a predetermined certification.

In this embodiment, an optional industry search makes use of anunderlying industry database to facilitate collection of structureddata. In one embodiment, the industry database contains five tiers ofindustry specificity. An employer may specify only the first tier ofindustry specificity, resulting in a broad search. Alternatively,employer may specify an industry at a more detailed level, resulting ina more focused search. In this embodiment, an employer may also specifya number of years of experience in the specified industry. By specifyinga number of years of experience, an employer may filter out those talentprofiles with less industry experience than the employer specified.

If an employer elects to provide occupation search parameters, theemployer is requested to provide an occupational division based on theDOT. To facilitate a more detailed search, an employer may alsooptionally provide occupational group, or occupational title. In oneembodiment, employer may additionally provide a department, for example,in the case of searching hospital job descriptions. An employer may alsosearch by specialty, for example, in the case of licensed health careprofessionals.

In connection with occupation search parameters, an employer may alsospecify a number of years of experience in the specified occupationaldivision, group, or title. The number of years of experience may be usedto filter out those talent profiles that display less occupationalexperience than employer specified.

In one embodiment, an employer may elect to search occupationalcategories, divisions, groups, or titles that are different from theoccupational category, division, group, or title for which the employeris seeking talent, but that involve similar skill sets. Therefore, anemployer's search for skills is not limited to talent with experience ina particular occupation. Instead, the employer may search any otheroccupation that it believes may suit its needs.

If an employer elects to provide education search parameters, itprovides an educational level, i.e. general equivalency diploma (GED),high school, vocational school, college—associate, college—bachelor,college—master, or college—doctorate. An employer may further specify afield of study, i.e. “mathematics.” An employer may also further specifya specialty, e.g. a medical specialty of “Plastic Surgery.”

An employer may also elect to search for talent profiles using thecomponent skills described by the DOT as constituting analytical skills,communications skills, and mechanical skills. In this embodiment, anemployer may specify any number and combination of such skills to searchfor talent who have described their skills of the type specified by theemployer. Therefore, an employer's search for skills is not limited totalent with experience in a particular occupation. Instead, the employermay base its search on a specified set of skills, thereby searching allother occupations for the specified skill set.

An employer may also elect to search for talent profiles evidencingspecific language skills. In this embodiment, the employer (i) specifiesone or more languages from the career site's languages database; (ii)chooses any number or combination of language-related skills (e.g.,“writing,” “reading,” and “conversing”) and (iii) specifies a fluencylevel (e.g., “fluent,” “moderate,” or “none”). In this embodiment, theemployer may specify one or more languages, and search on either acumulative basis (such as English and Chinese) or an alternative basis(such as Italian or French). In this embodiment, using “and” will resultin a more limited search result, while using “or” will result in abroader search result.

An employer may also elect to provide a search step that searches talentprofiles using a prior employer name. In this embodiment, talents'current employers'names are not searched. Additional keyword searchsteps include searching by at least one license or certificationkeyword, i.e. “professional engineer” or “certified nurse anesthetist.”Other keyword search steps may be provided, corresponding to which thetext of any searchable parameter of a talent profile will be matched forthe purpose of the search.

In one embodiment, search results are provided in a structured format inwhich “blind” talent profiles (that is to say, without any talentcontact information) are provided only if they satisfy all of thecriteria as set forth in connection with employer-provided job searchparameters. In one embodiment, for search reporting purposes, talentprofiles are scored according to a best fit with the employer-specifiedparameters. In this embodiment, a low score is best. A talent profilereceives a score of “1” if talent's current employment position is inthe industry specified in the search. A talent profile receives a scoreof “2” if talent's first prior employment position corresponds to thespecified industry and a score of “3” if talent's second prioremployment position corresponds to the specified industry, and so on. Inone embodiment, if none of talent's employment corresponds to thespecified industry, the talent profile will not be reported to theemployer. Similar scores may be assigned in relation to employerdepartments, such as in the case of hospital departments.

In one embodiment, additional scores are associated with a best fitbetween a talent's employment and an occupation specified in connectionwith the search. A score of “1” is assigned in the case that talent'scurrent employment position is in the selected occupation. A score of“2” is assigned if the first prior employment position corresponds tothe specified occupation, and so on. As disclosed in connection with fitbetween employment and industry, a lack of employment experience in thespecified occupation will result in exclusion of the talent profile.

In one embodiment, an additional score is associated with whether thespecified educational level is “achieved,” i.e. talent has alreadygraduated, or “expected,” i.e. talent is expected to graduate in thenear future. In this embodiment, a score of “1” is assigned to a talentprofile in which the educational level is denoted “achieved” and a scoreof “2” is assigned to a talent profile in which educational level isdenoted “expected.” Similar scores may be provided in connection withacademic major and medical specialty.

In one embodiment, if the employer specified a language search, a scoreof “1” is given if the reported talent profile reports “fluent” writingskills for the language specified by the employer, a score of “2” isgiven if “moderate” writing skills are reported, and a score of “3” thetalent profile reports no writing skills in the specified language. Thesame scoring is applied to reading and conversing skills in thespecified language.

In one embodiment of the language search feature, if an employerspecifies cumulative language requirements, a talent profile will not bereported unless if evidences skills for each specified language. Inanother embodiment, if an employer specifies an alternative languagerequirement, a talent profile will be reported if it reports any one ofthe specified languages.

In order to calculate a final score for ranking talent profiles,component scores are added, and the talent profiles are ranked inascending order. In this embodiment, talents' profile scores are notdisclosed in the ranking of talent profiles. In this embodiment, talentprofiles having the same score are ordered alphabetically by talentname. In this embodiment, talents' names are not disclosed. Othermethods may be employed to order the presentation of talent profileswithout departing from the scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, if a search yields more than a predetermined numberof talent profiles, such as for example 25, then no talent profiles arereported to the employer, and the employer is requested to provide anarrower search. In one embodiment, only a predetermined number of blindtalent profiles are reported to the employer, and the employer is warnedthat the reported set of talent profiles exceeds the predeterminednumber, and is advised to narrow the search. The number of talentprofiles reported to an employer by the career site operator may rangefrom one talent profile to all matching talent profiles withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

In one embodiment, search results are provided in a structured format,in which talent profiles are provided only if they satisfy all of thecriteria as set forth in connection with employer-provided talentprofile search parameters.

In one embodiment, for search reporting purposes, talent profiles areseparated into two groups: (i) talent profiles that match the searchcriteria, and that are within the specified point of geographicreference, such as a city or postal code; and (ii) talent profiles thatmatch the search criteria, and are outside of the specified point ofgeographic reference, but are within the MSA/PMSA and CMSA thatencompasses the selected point of geographic reference. In connectionwith group (ii), a distance is optionally provided between the locationof each talent and the employer-specified location in the search.

In one embodiment, an automatic search is performed based on employerspecifications similar to that provided in connection with aself-search. In an automatic search, the career site performs anautomatically recurring periodic search for each job listing against alltalent profiles. In one embodiment, if an employer specifies anautomatic search, the system will save one unique automatic search foreach job listing (stage 1007). In this embodiment, search results arepresented pursuant to each employer-specified search routine in thefashion previously described for self-searches. If, alternatively, theemployer identified a talent profile via a self-search, in oneembodiment the system may save only the most recent search (stage 1006).In alternative embodiments, a larger number of self-searches andautomatic searches may be stored to facilitate repeating self-searchesor to provide automatic search alternatives at later times.

An employer-initiated match is a match that occurs because of an initialaction taken by employer. When an employer-initiated match occurs, it isbecause of one of several reasons including: (i) the employer haslocated a talent profile through self-search; and/or (ii) the employerhas received notice of a match from the career site by way of anautomatic search. As a result of a match, “blind” profiles areidentified (stage 1008). An employer may save the search results (stage1009 and stage 1010), or discard the results by conducting anothersearch (stage 1024 and return to stage 1002) or end the session (stage1023).

The employer may select one or more talent profiles from the searchresults to process as employment inquiries to talent (stage 1011), mayconduct another search (stage 1012) or may end the session (stage 1013).If the employer wants to process its selection(s) as employmentinquiries, it submits the selections to the career site operator (stage1014). Upon the employer's submission of an employment inquiry to thecareer site, the employer has given its consent to the purchase of thetalent's contact information assuming that the talent consents to therelease of the information.

At this point, the career site operator checks the employer's account todetermine that all billing information is current (stage 1015). If it isnot, then the employer receives a message that its billing informationmust be updated (stage 1021), the message is saved (stage 1022) and thesession ends (stage 1023) until the employer has updated its billinginformation. An employer's account becomes “inactive” if its billinginformation is determined to be not current, because current billinginformation is required in order to satisfy the minimum requirements foran employer account.

If the employer saved the search results (stage 1009), then the same maybe accessed for submission to the career site operator after theemployer has updated its billing information. If not, the search resultsare lost. If the employer's billing information is current (stage 1015),links to the selected talent profiles are saved (stage 1016), andprocessing continues.

The next step is to determine whether the maximum compensation that theemployer is willing to pay is greater than the minimum compensationspecified by the talent (stage 1017). In one embodiment, talent profilesthat match the employer's skill requirements are reported to theemployer for consideration, but will not be forwarded to the talentunless the employer adjusts its maximum pay scale to a level thatexceeds the amount required by the talent. If an employer selects atalent profile that requires greater compensation that the employer hasdefined for its job listing, the employer receives a message that thecompensation it is offering is less than the talent requires; therefore,a request to disclose contact information will not be forwarded to theselected talent (stage 1018).

If the employer chooses, it may redefine the maximum compensationdefined in its job listing, and resubmit its employment inquiry. In oneembodiment, the minimum compensation that the talent requires is notreported to employers for this purpose, although it is possible that anemployer could ascertain the information through a process of trial anderror. If the maximum compensation the employer has specified for itsjob listing exceeds the talent's minimum compensation requirement, thenthe process proceeds to FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5B is a flow diagram representing a series of processes forrequesting and obtaining (i) federal employment records information(“FERI”), i.e., race and gender information (stage 551), which isrepresented in greater detail at FIG. 6B, described below; (ii) workauthorization information (U.S. citizenship for certain jobs lawfullyrequiring the same) (stage 553), which is represented in greater detailat FIG. 7B described below; and (iii) other regulatory parameters thatmay arise in the future (stage 555). If the job listing has no FERI(stage 551), work authorization (stage 553), or other regulatory (stage555) requirements, then the job listing is sent to the selected talentfor consideration (stage 557).

In one embodiment, a talent may specify any number of employers as“preferred,” which means that the talent has given advance consent torelease his or her confidential contact information to those employers.If the talent specified the particular employer as preferred, thenprocessing proceeds to FIG. 12. FIG. 12 was previously discussed inconnection with talent-initiated processes and is discussed from theperspective of employer-initiated processes below. If the talent did notspecify the employer as preferred, then processing proceeds to FIG. 11.

If the job listing is not subject to FERI (stage 551), then processingadvances to the work authorization stage (stage 553). If the job listingis subject to FERI, then processing transfers to FIG. 6B, which is aflow diagram for the process of requesting and obtaining FERI.

At FIG. 6B, first, the talent profile is checked to determine if thetalent has already saved his or her FERI (stage 661). If the answer is“yes,” then processing returns to FIG. 5B, whereupon processing advancesto the work authorization stage (stage 553). If the answer is “no,” theninformation about the employment opportunity is presented to the talent,who is asked to complete the optional FERI page of his or her talentprofile (stage 652), and is presented with an electronic link to thatpage. If the talent does not complete the FERI page (stage 653), thenprocessing again returns to FIG. 5B at stage 553, and the transactionmay still go forward because the disclosure of FERI by talent isentirely optional. If the talent does complete the FERI page, then thatinformation is saved for the benefit of the employer's employmentreporting obligations (stage 659). In this section, FERI information issaved on behalf of an employer (stage 660). In connection with thisinformation various reports are generated (stage 661). The reportsinclude information about numbers of candidates in particular groups andmay be used for statistical purposes and to show compliance withapplicable governmental regulations. Next the routine ends (stage 672).

If the talent provides FERI, the talent is given an opportunity to savehis or her FERI (stage 656 and 657), which allows the talent to avoidthis processing routine in the future. If the talent saves his or herFERI, then that information is not publicly presented on his or hertalent profile (stage 658), but may be disclosed to employers as part ofthe employment process. In the event of disclosure to employers as partof the employment process, employers may not use the information tounlawfully discriminate in any way. At this point, processing againreturns to FIG. 5B.

Next, the career site determines whether the employer's job listingindicates a work authorization requirement, such as for certainpositions and contracts with the U.S. government and its politicalsubdivisions (stage 553). If the answer is “no,” then processingadvances to consider other regulatory parameters (stage 555). If theanswer is “yes,” then processing transfers to FIG. 7B, which representsa process for requesting and obtaining work authorization information.

At FIG. 7B, the career site determines whether the talent profileselected by the employer includes a completed work authorization section(stage 751). If the employer profile includes the required workauthorization information, the career site determines if the talent isqualified for the particular job (stage 752). If the answer is “no,”then the talent and employer receive messages that the talent is notqualified because of the work authorization limitation (stage 753), theinformation is stored for both employer and talent (stage 763), andprocessing ends (stage 764). If the career site determines that thetalent qualifies for the job (stage 752), then processing returns toFIG. 5B at stage 555.

If the talent profile does not include work authorization information(stage 751), then the talent is presented with a request to supply thework authorization information and an electronic link to the workauthorization page of his or her talent profile (stage 754). If thetalent declines to complete the work authorization (stage 755), then theemployer is notified of the talent's denial (stage 765), the talent'sdenial is saved for both the employer and the talent (stage 768), andprocessing ends (stage 769). However, the employer is given an option ofcontinuing the recruiting process (stage 768) because the employer couldobtain the work authorization information after interviewing the talentwith the talent's consent. If the employer elects to continue, then theprocess returns to FIG. 5B. If the employer does not elect to continue,then the process ends (stage 769).

Returning to stage 755, if the talent completes the work authorizationrequest but is not qualified (stage 756), then both the talent and theemployer are notified of that fact (stage 757), the notice is saved forboth the employer and the talent (stage 768), and the process ends(stage 769). If the talent is qualified for the job (at stage 756),processing proceeds back to FIG. 5B.

In one embodiment, regardless of whether the talent is qualified foremployment in jobs requiring U.S. citizenship, the talent may elect tosave his or her work authorization information in his or her talentprofile (stages 758, 760, and 761), whereupon this portion of theroutine ends (stage 769). If the talent does not elect to save his orher work authorization information in his or her talent profile, thenthe data is discarded (stage 759).

Returning to FIG. 5B, because it may reasonably be anticipated that joblistings may be subject to other governmentally imposed restrictions orrecord keeping, exemplary processes of FIG. 5B contemplate otherroutines for processing such requirements (stages 555 and 556).

After the FERI, work authorization, and other regulatory parameters havebeen processed, the career site determines if the employer is“preferred” (stage 557), as previously discussed. If the talentspecified the particular employer as preferred, then processing proceedsto FIG. 12. If the talent did not specify the employer as preferred,then processing proceeds to FIG. 11.

Turning to FIG. 11, if the talent did not list the employer aspreferred, then the employment opportunity is submitted to the talentfor his or her consideration (stage 1101). The inquiry consists of theparticular Job Listing (stage 1102), a Request to Release ContactInformation (stage 1103), and a brief survey for use in the event thatthe talent declines the opportunity (stage 1104). The inquiry sent tothe talent may be effected by a variety of means, including displaying amessage to the talent upon sign-in, via e-mail, regular mail, or somecombination of means. The information supplied to the talent may includethe name of the employer and the city, state/province, and country ofthe employer but omits any personally identifying information for theemployer and its personnel, and omits the employer's address, phonenumber, and e-mail address.

In one embodiment, if the information provided to the talent includesthe name and geographic location of the employer, the talent maydetermine the address and phone number of the employer from sourcesoutside of the career site, and attempt to contact the employer directlyinstead of using the services of the career site. However, a number offactors make such a circumstance unlikely. First, by using the careersite, employers have stated a preference for using the site'sprocedures. Second, the easiest way for the talent to pursue theopportunity presented by the employer is for the talent to utilize theprocess adopted by the employer, i.e., the career site. Third, employerscontractually agree that they will not circumvent the career sitesystem. Fourth, if the career site system were circumvented, importantrecords of the employer's recruiting and hiring process would not becreated to be available to the employer and the talent in the future.

In one embodiment, upon receiving an employment inquiry, a talent isasked to respond (stage 1105). If the talent does not immediatelyrespond, then he or she becomes “inactive,” meaning that he or shecannot apply for jobs or receive new opportunities from employers (stage1106). Upon each sign-in, the talent is prompted to respond tooutstanding messages (FIG. 3 at stage 324). If the talent has notresponded within a predetermined number of days after the date of theemployer-initiated inquiry, then the employer receives a message fromthe career site to the effect that the talent has declined theemployer's inquiry, but that no reason was given (stage 1107), and themessage is saved for the employer and the talent and the process ends(stages 1110 and 1111).

If the talent does respond, such response will be to either grant ordecline permission to release his or her contact information (stage1108). A decline response requires the answer to a brief surveyrequesting the reason for declining (stage 1109). Possible reasons mayinclude, for example, the geographic location of the employer, thenature of the job, or talent's personal circumstances, among others.Again, the response is saved for the employer and the talent (stage1110). If the talent grants permission to release his or her contactinformation, then that action is saved for the employer and the talent(stage 1112). Processing then continues at FIG. 12.

VII. Completing the Transaction

After the talent and the employer have reached mutual consent to therelease of talent's contact information, an employer becomes obligatedto purchase the “compete” talent profile (stage 1208) that includes thetalent's contact information. At such time, the career site sends anotice to the talent to expect contact from the employer (stage 1209),the talent contact information is released to the employer (stage 1210),and the career site invoices and collects its fee from the employer(stages 1211, 1212, and 1213). These transactions are saved for thetalent, the employer, and the career site (stage 1214) so that variousreports may be prepared (stage 1215). In one embodiment, some reportsrelate to aggregate information gathered during the operation of thecareer site and may be used to identify employment trends. After talentcontact information is purchased, processing advances to FIG. 13.

Returning to stage 1208, for an employer that purchases a completetalent profile there are several payment options, including, forexample: (i) by credit card; (ii) by prepaid account in which an amountof money is pre-deposited with a career site operator; and (iii) byperiodic invoice. In connection with a prepaid account, as an employerpurchases talent profiles, fees are deducted from the correspondingaccount, and periodically, the employer is notified that it is time toreplenish the account. Talent contact information may not be purchasedif there is insufficient money in an employer's prepaid account toeffect the transaction(s). In connection with the periodic invoice,employers must have met the career site's established credit criteria.For such employers, a monthly statement will be sent for payment onpre-established terms.

FIG. 13 is a flow diagram representing a procedure of the career sitefor paying referral fees and commissions that may be payable withrespect to completed transactions. In one embodiment, through anaffiliate program, referral fees are paid as further described in FIG.15, FIGS. 16, 17, and 18. First, referral fees and commissions areprocessed (stage 1301). Next, affiliates, wholesalers, and retailers ofcareer site marketing services are sent a message regarding earnedreferral fees, as appropriate (stages 1302, 1303, and 1304). Next,transactions are stored for processing in the next payment cycle (stage1305). Finally, payment is made to affiliates, wholesalers, andretailers and the session ends (stages 1306 and 1307).

VIII. Trade Associations

Affiliate organizations in good standing such as trade associations mayearn referral fees by referring employers to the career site (see FIG.13 and FIG. 15). FIG. 15 is a block diagram representinginterrelationships between market participants in a system consistentwith another embodiment of the present invention, including a marketingprogram directed to employers. Each time a complete talent profile 1501is completed by talent 1500 and purchased by a referred employer 1505, areferral fee is paid to the affiliate trade association 1506 by careersite operator 1503. In this embodiment, transactions are effected inpart by employers using trade associations database 222 to identifytrade associations to which they (or their divisions) belong. In thisembodiment, if the trade association identified by the employer hasbecome a career site “affiliate” then the trade association 1506 willreceive a referral fee for each “complete” talent profile 1501 purchased1507 by such employers 1505 based on job listings 1504 provided byemployers 1505.

Trade associations 1506 become approved associations by (i) agreeing toa list of responsibilities, (ii) encouraging member employers to submitjob listings, and (iii) providing the career site with a list of itsemployer-members. In exchange for promoting the career site and thecareer site operator 1503, the trade association 1506 receives areferral fee whenever a match occurs between a talent profile and a joblisting, and the career site is paid. A match occurs when (a) talentagrees to release his or her contact information to an employer, and (b)the employer agrees to purchase that talent's contact information.

In one embodiment, trade associations receive a percentage or fixedreferral fee on the revenues that the career site operator earns whentalent and employer mutually agree to contact each other regardingemployment. The referral fee is paid with respect to all of theemployer's job listings, provided that the employer has listed the tradeassociation in the trade affiliations section of its profile. A tradeassociation will continue to receive the referral described as long asit maintains good standing.

In this embodiment, good standing requires several actions on the partof an affiliated association, including (i) publicly endorsing thecareer site operator; (ii) consenting to the use of its name inconnection with career site advertisements; (iii) promoting career siteto its members as part of its member employment program; (iv)advertising, with a minimum specified-size ad, the career site in eachissue of its member newsletter at no cost to the career site; (v)listing all of its jobs on the career site; and (vi) linking theassociation's web site to the career site.

IX. Educational Institutions, Professional Associations, and LaborUnions

Affiliate organizations in good standing such as educationalinstitutions, professional associations, and labor (or trade) unions mayearn referral fees by referring talent to the career site (see FIG. 13and FIG. 16). Each time a referred complete talent profile 1604 ispurchased by an employer 1606 and the career site is paid, a referralfee is paid to the affiliate educational institution 1601 and/orprofessional association 1602 and/or labor union 1603. In thisembodiment, the transactions are effected in part by talent 1600 usingeducational institutions database 215 and professional associations andlabor unions database 223 to precisely identify educational institutions1601 that they have attended and professional associations 1602 and/orlabor unions 1603 to which they belong. In this embodiment, if theeducational institution and/or professional association and/or laborunion identified by the talent has become a career site “affiliate” thenthe educational institution 1601 and/or professional association 1602and/or labor union 1603 will received a referral fee each time thetalent's “complete” talent profile is purchased.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram representing interrelationships betweenmarket participants in a system consistent with another embodiment ofthe present invention, including a marketing program directed to talent.Educational institution 1601 participates by working with talent 1600 tocontact and provide information to career site operator 1605. Joblistings 1607 are provided to career site operator 1605 by employers1606, and when a match and purchase occur 1608, a referral fee is paidto an appropriate educational institution 1601 and/or professionalassociation 1602 and/or labor union 1603.

In one embodiment, educational institutions 1601 receive a percentage orfixed fee on the revenues that the career site earns when talent andemployer mutually agree to contact regarding employment 1608. Talent1603 must have listed the educational institution 1601 in his or hereducation history associated with the talent profile 1604. Aneducational institution 1601 will continue to receive the referral feeas long as it is in good standing.

Educational institutions 1601 maintain good standing by taking severalactions, including (i) publicly endorsing the career site operator; (ii)consenting to the use of its name in connection with career siteadvertisements; (iii) promoting career site to its students andgraduates as part of its student employment program; (iv) advertising,with a minimum specified-size ad, the career site in each issue of itsalumni newsletter at no cost to the career site; (v) listing all of itsjobs on the career site; and (vi) linking the educational institution'sweb site to the career site. In one embodiment affiliates enter into anexclusive marketing relationship with the career site, meaning that theaffiliate will not participate in an affiliate program with anothercareer site.

In one embodiment, professional associations 1602 and labor unions 1603may receive a percentage or fixed referral fee on the revenues that acareer site earns when talent 1600 and employer 1606 mutually agree tocontact regarding employment 1608. Talent 1600 must have listed theprofessional association 1602 and/or labor union 1603 in his or herspecial skills and affiliations section, associated with the talentprofile. A professional association 1602 or labor union 1603 willcontinue to receive the referral fee as long as it is in good standing.

Professional associations 1602 and labor unions 1603 maintain goodstanding by taking several actions, including (i) publicly endorsing thecareer site operator; (ii) consenting to the use of its name inconnection with career site advertisements; (iii) promoting career siteto its members as part of its member employment program; (iv)advertising, with a minimum specified-size ad, the career site in eachissue of its member newsletter at no cost to the career site; (v)listing all of its jobs on the career site; and (vi) linking theprofessional association's or labor union's web site to the career site.

X. Wholesalers

In one embodiment, through a wholesaler program, wholesalers in goodstanding may earn commissions as further described in FIG. 13 and FIG.17. A wholesaler earns a commission (a) if it is responsible forestablishing an employer account, in which case a commission is paideach time the employer purchases a complete talent profile and thecareer site is paid, and/or (b) if it is responsible for recruiting asan affiliate a trade association, professional association, oreducational institution, in which case a commission is paid each timethe affiliate is paid a referral fee. In this embodiment, thetransactions are effected in part by talent 1708 using educationalinstitutions database 215 and professional associations and labor unionsdatabase 223 to precisely identify educational institutions 1706 thatthey have attended and professional associations 1705 and/or laborunions 1707 to which they belong, and by employers using tradeassociations database 222 to precisely identify trade associations 1701to which they belong. In this embodiment, if the trade association,professional association, educational institution, or labor union,identified by the talent and/or employer has become a career site“affiliate” through the efforts of the wholesaler 1700, then thewholesaler 1700 will paid a commission each time such trade association1701, professional association 1705, educational institution 1706, orlabor union 1707 receives a referral fee.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram representing interrelationships betweenmarket participants in a system consistent with yet another embodimentof the present invention, including wholesale marketing of a careersite. Wholesalers 1700 work in conjunction with trade associations 1701,professional associations 1705, educational institutions 1706, and laborunions 1707. Trade associations 1701 provide marketing that results inemployers 1702 listing jobs 1703 on the career site 1704. Professionalassociations 1705, educational institutions 1706, and labor unions 1707provide marketing directed at members and students becoming talent 1708who post talent profiles 1708 to the career site 1704. When a match 1710occurs, commissions are paid to the responsible wholesaler 1700 at thetime that referral fees are paid to the career site-affiliated tradeassociation 1701, professional association 1705, educational institution1706, and/or labor union 1707

In one embodiment, wholesalers 1700 are selected from a group of publicaccounting firms, payroll processing firms, human resource consultingfirms, human resource software developers, and other designatedentities. In this embodiment, wholesalers 1700 receive percentagecommission on the revenues a career site realizes when talent 1708 andemployers 1702 mutually agree to contact each other regarding employment1710. The commission is paid with respect to an employer's entire joblistings, provided that the employer 1702 account was assigned towholesaler 1700 at the time the employer 1702 account was established.

In one embodiment, wholesalers 1700 receive commissions as a wholesalerso long as it and the trade associations 1701, professional associations1705, educational institutions 1706, and labor unions for which it isresponsible remain in good standing. The requirements for tradeassociations 1701, professional associations 1705, educationalinstitutions 1706, and labor unions 1707 remaining in good standing werediscussed previously. Wholesalers 1700 maintain good standing by takingseveral actions, including (i) publicly endorsing the career siteoperator; (ii) consenting to the use of its name in connection withcareer site advertisements; (iii) using best efforts to promote thecareer site to employers for the purpose of listing all of their jobs onthe career site; (iv) assisting employers (for fees to be paid byemployers) with technical aspects of automatically listing all of theemployer's jobs on the career site; (v) listing all of its jobs on thecareer site; and (vi) linking the wholesaler's web site to the careersite.

XI. Retailers

In one embodiment, through a retailer program, retailers in goodstanding may earn commissions as further described in FIG. 13 and FIG.18. FIG. 18 is a flow diagram representing the relationship of multiplelevels of retailers with a career site in a system consistent with afurther embodiment of the present invention. A first-level retailer 1800earns a commission (a) if it is responsible for establishing an employeraccount with the career site, in which case a commission is paid eachtime the employer purchases a complete talent profile, or (b) if it isresponsible for recruiting another retailer, consistent with the termsand conditions of the career site, in which case a commission is paideach time the other retailer is paid a referral fee. Alternativeretailer processes may be employed using one or more levels consistentwith local law.

A first-level retailer identifies a prospective employer (stage 1801).Next, it is determined whether the identified employer is subject to apreexisting wholesale or retail commission (stage 1802). If so, then noretail commission is payable in the case of the identified employer(stage 1803). Returning to stage 1802, if the employer is not subject toanother commission, then when the employer pays the career site fortalent contacts (stage 1804), a first level commission is paid to thefirst-level retailer (stage 1805). A first-level retailer may alsorecruit (stage 1806) second-level retailers 1807. Next, second levelretailers add employers to the career site (stage 1808), and it isdetermined whether the added employers are subject to another commission(stage 1809). As described in connection with first-level retailers, ifa particular employer is already subject to a commission, no retailcommission is payable (stage 1803). On the other hand, if at stage 1809,it is determined that a particular employer is not subject tocommissions, and the employer pays the career site for talent contacts(stage 1810), then the second-level retailer is paid a first-levelcommission (stage 1811) and a second-level commission is paid to thefirst-level retailer (stage 1812).

Further, second-level retailer 1807 may recruit (stage 1813) athird-level retailer 1814. The third-level retailer adds employers tothe career site (stage 1815). If the employer is subject to anothercommission, no retail commission is payable (stage 1803). However, ifthe added employer is not subject to another commission (stage 1816) andthe added employer pays the career site for talent contacts (stage1817), then a first-level commission is paid to the third-level retailer(stage 1819), a second-level commission is paid to the second-levelretailer (stage 1830) and a third-level commission is paid to thefirst-level retailer (stage 1820).

Finally, additional retail levels may be added to the system consistentwith local law.

XII. Commercially Available Reports

Data generated with activities carried out in connection with theinvention may contain commercially valuable information based onaggregated information. In one embodiment, reports are marketed thatindicate industry trends such as salary trends, including whichindustries are hiring, which industries are not hiring and whichgeographical areas are hiring and which are not.

XIII. Storefronts

Employers may rent “storefronts” which are sections of the career sitedevoted to the particular employer. Employers who rent storefronts havebroad discretion with respect to the information that they may present,but may not present personally identifying information, or informationintended to circumvent the procedures of the career site, or informationthat is unlawful.

XIV. Follow-Up Process

FIG. 14 is a flow diagram of a process whereby the career site initiatescontact with talent and employers with respect to matches that haveoccurred between talent and employers, and the parties have agreed tothe exchange of contact information, i.e., a purchase has occurred. Inone embodiment, employers database 210, jobs database 211, and talentprofiles database 205 are opened on a periodic basis, such as, forexample 60 days after the date of the match (stages 1401 and 1402). Theemployers who purchased talent contact information are asked whetherthey hired the particular talent (stage 1403). The talent, whose contactinformation was purchased, are asked whether they were hired by theparticular employer (stage 1404). Any responses (stages 1405 and 1406)are saved (stage 1407), and various talent and employer reports may beprepared (stage 1408), and the routine ends (stage 1409).

XV. Enterprise Databases

Methods, systems, and distributed networks consistent with the presentinvention are capable of facilitating transmission and processing of jobdescription information directly from enterprise human resources andother applications, such as, for example, enterprise database systemsfrom PeopleSoft, Inc. and SAP AG. Similarly, trade or professionalassociations, educational institutions or other entities may havesufficient consent and data to provide talent profile information forits members or students. This information may be exchanged in variousways as will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that theinvention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing fromthe spirit or essential character hereof. The present description istherefore considered in all respects to be illustrative and notrestrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appendedclaims, and all changes that come within the meaning and rangeof-equivalents thereof are intended to be embraced therein.

Having thus described the disclosed subject matter, what is claimed asnew and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:
 1. A method ofsearching a plurality of candidate profiles having at least onerespective candidate threshold requirement by a computer system within acomputer network, the computer system comprising at least one computercomprising at least one processor in communication with at least onestorage medium, the method comprising: receiving at least one jobdescription by the computer system; storing at least one candidateprofile on the at least one storage medium; receiving at least onesearch parameter by the computer system from an employer; identifying atleast one candidate profile by the computer system based on the at leastone search parameter; comparing the at least one job description withthe at least one candidate threshold requirement of the identifiedcandidate profile by the computer system; determining by the computersystem that the at least one job description matches the at least onecandidate threshold requirement of the identified candidate profile; andcommunicating to the employer the at least one determined candidateprofile.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one candidateprofile includes information classified according to an industryclassification system.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at leastone job description includes information classified according to anindustry classification system.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the atleast one search parameter includes a maximum compensation requirement.5. The method of claim 4, wherein the maximum compensation requirementis confidential.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least onecandidate threshold requirement includes a minimum compensation.
 7. Themethod of claim 6, wherein the minimum compensation requirement isconfidential.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: upon the atleast one candidate threshold requirement matching the at least one jobdescription, receiving from the employer a request by the computersystem for an interview with a candidate associated with the at leastone determined candidate profile; and transmitting the interview requestto the candidate over the computer network.
 9. The method of claim 8,further comprising: receiving from the candidate an indication regardingwhether the candidate accepts the interview request by the computersystem.
 10. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing theemployer with an opportunity to modify the at least one search parameterand the at least one job description if the threshold comparisonindicates at least one the candidate profile does not match the at leastone job description.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprisingproviding the employer with a list of candidates whose associatedcandidate profiles matched the threshold requirements.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein said list of candidates is ordered by the degree ofcompatibility of the candidates with the job description.
 13. The methodof claim 11, wherein the list of candidates is further ordered bygeographic proximity to a geographic location specified in the searchparameters.
 14. A method of searching a plurality of job descriptionswith corresponding employer threshold requirements by a computer systemwithin a computer network, the computer system comprising at least onecomputer comprising at least one processor in communication with atleast one storage medium, the method comprising: receiving at least onecandidate profile associated with at least one candidate; storing thejob descriptions on the at least one storage medium; receiving at leastone search parameter by the computer system from the at least onecandidate; identifying a job description associated with a prospectiveemployer by the computer system based on the at least one searchparameter; comparing the at least one candidate profile with the atleast one employer threshold requirement of the identified jobdescription by the computer system; determining by the computer systemthat the at least one candidate profile matches the at least oneemployer threshold requirement; and communicating to the candidate thedetermined job description.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the jobdescriptions include information classified according to an industryclassification system.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the at leastone candidate profile includes information classified according to anindustry classification system.
 17. The method of claim 14, wherein theat least one search parameter includes a minimum compensation thresholdrequirement.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein the minimumcompensation requirement is confidential.
 19. The method of claim 14,further comprising: upon the at least one candidate profile matching theat least one employer threshold requirement, receiving from thecandidate a request by the computer system for an interview with anemployer associated with the determined job description; andtransmitting the interview request to the employer by the computersystem.
 20. The method of claim 14, further comprising providing thecandidate with an opportunity to modify the at least one searchparameter and the at least one candidate profile if the thresholdcomparison indicates that the at least one candidate profile does notmatch the at least one employer threshold requirements.
 21. The methodof claim 14, further comprising providing the candidate with a list ofjob descriptions for which the at least one candidate profile matchesthe at least one employer threshold requirement.
 22. The method of claim21, wherein the list of job descriptions is ordered by maximumcompensation requirement of the job descriptions.
 23. The method ofclaim 22, wherein the list of job descriptions is further ordered bygeographic proximity to a geographic location specified in the at leastone search parameter.
 24. A method of searching a plurality of candidateprofiles having respective candidate attributes by a computer systemhaving at least one computer comprising at least one processor, and astorage medium in communication with the at least one computer within acomputer network, wherein the candidate profiles are stored on the atleast one storage medium, the method comprising: identifying at leastone candidate profile by the computer system based on at least onesearch parameter received from a prospective employer, the searchparameter including a threshold requirement of the employer; andcommunicating to the prospective employer at least one identifiedcandidate profile.
 25. The method of claim 24, further comprising:comparing the at least one search parameter with the candidateattributes by the computer system; determining by the computer systemwhether at least one of the identified candidate profiles meets at leastone threshold requirement specified by the employer; and communicatingto the prospective employer at least one determined candidate profile.